Alberta Health Services suspends policy change that blocks parents from accessing their children's medical records

By lauraharris // 2024-02-05

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The Alberta Health Services (AHS), health agency in the Canadian province of Alberta, has temporarily suspended its proposed policy change that would prevent parents from accessing the medical records of their children as soon as they turn 12. The initial changes, announced in February 2022 through a letter, seek to withdraw parental proxy access to MyAHS Connect accounts for children aged 12 and older to protect patients "in vulnerable situations." This online patient portal allows Alberta residents to access their health records, including test results, immunization records, medications and appointment history. This portal also facilitates communication between patients and their healthcare teams. In the letter sent to physicians and posted on the AHS official website, parents could only access the medical information of their children through proxy up to the age of 11. After the child turns 12, access will be restricted, except for those with a developmental age of eight years or younger. Personal access to the MyAHS Connect account is only granted to the child at the age of 14, provided they have an Alberta ID. “In their experience, it is at approximately age 12 when at-risk populations may begin to access or require healthcare independent of their parents or guardians. Limiting access to information for parents and guardians when a youth turns 12 is designed to protect vulnerable youth while continuing to enable MyAHS Connect proxy access for families in situations where it is most valuable," the letter reads. (Related: Victory for parental rights: California school district agrees to pay family $100,000 settlement after teachers "transitioned" student to LGBT behind parents' back.) However, on Jan. 29, AHS decided to pause the restriction on proxy access through a notice posted on the AHS official website. "There was a planned temporary change in Connect Care to limit how youth accounts in MyAHS Connect can be accessed by another individual (e.g., parent or authorized representative), known as proxy access. MyAHS Connect proxy access gives a parent or authorized representative access to a youth’s entire health record. This may be a risk for some youth who are accessing sensitive health services. "With recent engagement sessions and feedback about this upcoming proxy change, and on closer review, on Friday, January 26, the decision was made to pause and revisit these changes to proxy access for youth. As a result of this pause, no changes will be implemented to those with existing proxy access to youth accounts aged 12-17 at this time. AHS is working to identify potential solutions that would strike a better balance between the needs of maturing youth and the ability of their parents or authorized representatives to support them with ongoing healthcare needs."

Alberta premier vows to protect parental rights

A few days before the suspension of proxy access, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith revealed that the United Conservative government is all set to introduce parental rights legislation. "Parental rights," a term used to limit sex education and discussions of gender identity in schools, has a contentious history in both the United States and Canada, particularly concerning LGBTQ issues, religion, and language in schools. In the radio show "Your Province, Your Premier," on 630 CHED and QR Calgary, Smith tackled the importance of finding a balance between parents' concerns about the innocence of their children and the need to support them in forming their own identities. "I don't think that there's anything wrong with parents wanting to protect their child's innocence as long as possible on issues of sexuality. Kids do get to a point where they start making their own decisions. We’ve been having a lot of conversations about this as a caucus. We've consulted very broadly about it. We'll be releasing policy on this next week," said Smith during the Jan. 27 broadcast. She further highlighted the necessity of allowing children to develop their identities while ensuring parents are informed about what is being taught in schools. "I am really hopeful that we can depoliticize the discussion and be thinking about the kids who are listening to us as adults talking about these issues that are impacting them and make sure that we get the right balance," she said. Learn more about health systems around the world at HealthCoverage.news. Watch this Jan. 26 episode of "A Warrior Calls" discussing the grave corruption within the Alberta Health Services. This video is from the channel A Warrior Calls on Brighteon.com.

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Alberta premier vows to protect parental rights

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