What to Know at 13

• Dear Pre-teen, 
  You are getting close to your teenage years..

Here’s what is going to change when you turn 13:

• You will have some time alone with your provider to discuss any concerns you may have in a private setting. Anything you share will be kept confidential unless you give us permission to talk with your parent(s) about your concerns or if you are harming yourself, someone is harming you or you want to harm someone else.
• You will need to have access to your own MyChart and your own health information
  • You will need your own non-school email to set up an account
  • You should keep your password private
  • Your parents can help you with this.  Your parents will not be cut out of the loop.  They will still be there to help and we will guide you along the way.

Dear Parent, 
As your child approaches their teens, our relationship with your family will evolve to encourage your teen to feel comfortable enough with us to ask personal questions and share concerns.  We believe we can provide your child with the best possible health care when there is an opportunity to speak with your teen alone, with their confidentiality ensured.  Please be assured, we support you as parents and will be encouraging healthy behavior, good choices and open communication with you as their parents.

When your child turns 13, your access to the information contained in the MyChart patient portal will change.  Please click here to review the MyChart Flyer for important details about what this means. Legally, your child is required to have a private MyChart account with their own login and private password. You will continue to access your child’s information through your own proxy account.  Please only communicate with our office using your parent account. You may need to help your child set up a non-school email account so they can log into MyChart, however their password should be kept private for their use only.  We care about internet safety. Please see the attached resource page to explore e-mail accounts that have options for parental controls.

As parents, you are the experts about your teen and we want to work together with you to optimize their health.  However, certain health information is, by Massachusetts law, confidential.  That means that if your teen talks with us about certain issues, we need their permission to talk to you about it.  These include drug addiction, treatment for sexually transmitted infections, birth control and pregnancy, and mental health concerns.  However, we will inform you if we believe there is danger of serious risk to your child’s life or health.

Sincerely,
PAM Providers