Recommendations for electronic health record use for delivery of adolescent health care.

Adolescents stand to benefit greatly from improved electronic access to reliable health information and health care. Use of electronic health records (EHRs) can potentially improve health care accessibility, effectiveness, and safety but can create challenges for the ongoing protection of patient confidentiality and privacy. Protection of adolescent confidentiality as dictated by applicable laws is a responsibility shared by EHR vendors, hospital and clinic administrators, clinicians, patients, and families. Based on a systematic review of the literature and consultation with thought leaders, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine adopts the following positions: