Adolescent Care

SERVING THE NEEDS OF TEENAGERS IN THE BEGINNING STAGES OF ADULTHOOD

Dear Parent/Guardian of a Teenager:

At Atrium OB/GYN, we strive to provide the best healthcare possible for your teenager. We encourage you to be actively involved in your teen’s healthcare and we make sure to promote open communication between parent, teen and the health professional. While many adolescent teenagers are accompanied to the office visit by their parent/guardian, we will often see teenagers by themselves. This teaches them to learn how to take care of their health, while giving them the chance to talk to us privately if desired. Again, we will always encourage teenagers to talk to a parent about important health issues in any given situation.

It is important to note that we offer your teenager 100% "confidential" services. Confidentiality is crucial when taking care of teenagers because many adolescents fear that if they tell their health professional the truth, it will get back to their parents. "Confidential" means that a teenager can trust that we will not tell anyone else, including parents or their school unless they give us permission. The one exception to this would be if we think that there is a serious threat to the teenager’s health.

In Ohio, minors 12 years and older may give their own consent for treatment by a healthcare professional. They are protected by Federal and State privacy laws that restrict parents from accessing their child’s medical records without the teen’s consent. Again, we strive for an open communication between parents and their children, but we will respect a teenagers request for confidentiality, as we do for all of our patients.

We look forward to taking care of your teenager. Please feel free to contact us regarding any concerns you may have about your teen.

Atrium OB/GYN, INC.