As of May 5, parents and guardians will now keep access to their teenager’s medical record in My Health at Vanderbilt, without having to complete burdensome in-person paperwork.
This change will help parents and guardians stay more closely involved in health care decision-making with their teenagers, more easily complete administrative tasks like paperwork for sports participation and school registration, and pay bills for which they may have financial responsibility.
The update also helps Vanderbilt Health remain compliant with a newly enacted Tennessee state law governing parent access to their child’s medical records.
This change reverses nearly 20 years of practice, based on earlier state law, in which parents lost access to their child’s My Health at Vanderbilt accounts at age 13. To help retain access, both the parent/guardian and the adolescent had to appear in person in a Vanderbilt Health facility to sign paperwork.
Parents of children and adolescents who do not yet have access to their child’s account will need to request access to it. They can do this in person at a Vanderbilt Health facility or by calling the My Health Help Desk at 615-343-HELP (4357). Legal guardians will need to complete a special form before access can be granted.
Once access is granted, parents/guardians will be able to access their teen’s account from within their own My Health at Vanderbilt account.
Teenagers without a My Health at Vanderbilt account will follow existing sign-up processes for all minors requesting a new My Health account.
Parents/guardians must have their own My Health at Vanderbilt account to access their child’s account.
Employees can learn more on the Vanderbilt Health Hub about how this change will affect current workflows.