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Health information professionals warn bill expanding parental portal access could conflict with HIPAA
Summary
The Ohio Health Information Management Association told the Senate Health Committee that language in HB 162, which would let parents access minors' EHRs without requiring a minor's authorization, could conflict with federal HIPAA rules and create impractical EMR redaction burdens for providers.
Lauren Manson, executive director of the Ohio Health Information Management Association (OHIMA), opposed the authorization portion of House Bill 162 during Senate Health Committee testimony, saying the bill's current language would prohibit providers from requiring a minor's authorization before parent or guardian portal access and that that could conflict with HIPAA and common EMR functionality.
"Sensitive health information regarding the care that minors may legally obtain without parental consent can appear throughout the medical record," Manson said, adding that such information can appear in histories, problem lists and future notes, and cannot reliably be isolated by an automated portal change. She told the committee the provision could force providers to choose between violating state law or federal privacy requirements.
Manson listed services minors can consent to under Ohio law — including HIV testing, STD diagnosis and treatment, substance use treatment, certain mental health services and judicially authorized abortions — and said there is no reliable way to purge or redact that information from an integrated record without jeopardizing completeness of documentation and future care. She urged lawmakers to limit the bill to notification provisions and to remove the authorization prohibition to avoid operational impossibility and HIPAA conflicts.
Committee members asked for examples and discussed technical and recordkeeping challenges; Manson offered to meet with committee staff and stakeholders to craft language that preserves parental notification while complying with federal privacy law.
No committee action on HB 162 was taken at the hearing.
