The provider’s responsibility is to ensure that he accords maximum privacy to the patient’s information. The provider should also provide a trusting environment for the patient to be content with the medical process. Consequently, the provider should adhere to the legal statutes that apply in his area of jurisdiction. For instance, different states in the US have varying laws regarding confidentiality and consent of minors in treatment in care. The mature minor doctrine has been adopted in the majority of states whereby a minor aged 12 years and above is offered the right to provide consent without seeking emancipation ( Benjamin, Ishimine, Joseph, & Mehta, 2018). This particularly applies in cases involving pregnant minors who have to make medical decisions and evaluations about their unborn children. In states that do not provide minors with the right to consent, the provider must seek consent from the patient’s family since she is still a minor .
The provider should appropriately respond and facilitate care to the patient in this case by carrying out a diagnosis of the patient. The provider should ask the patient whether she had eaten something that might have triggered and upset in her abdomen. He or she should also assess the patient’s history of sexual activity to be able to determine the truth of what she thought. Using these questions, the provider will be able to evaluate the problem before the results of the test come out. To ensure proper care, the provider has to assure the patient about her confidentiality until the test results are obtained. The provider should also appraise the minor to find out if she understands the health implications of the treatment approach of her pregnancy ( Jackson, Burns, & Richter, 2014). This assists the provider to make the decision of consent of treatment and care to the minor.
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The provider can use intervention and management strategies to ensure confidentiality of the information of the patient. Firstly, the provider should guarantee confidentiality by facilitating environmental space reorganization and the process management to acquire the required information from the patient. On the other hand, the provider can also prevent access of other health care providers and staff members to protect the patient’s information, thus, maximizing privacy ( Rolfe et al. 2014). Consequently, if the patient is found pregnant, then the provider has to intervene and inform the parents so that they can give consent for the patient to undergo prenatal care. This would only apply to states that deny consent to minor’s treatment and care. However, in states such as Alabama and Pennsylvania that grant consent to minors, the provider should furnish the minor with information regarding her pregnancy, as well as, the required prenatal care.
References
Benjamin, L., Ishimine, P., Joseph, M., & Mehta, S. (2018). Evaluation and Treatment of Minors. Annals of Emergency Medicine , 71 (2), 225-232.
Jackson, M. K., Burns, K. K., & Richter, M. S. (2014). Confidentiality and treatment decisions of minor clients: a health professional’s dilemma & policy makers challenge. SpringerPlus , 3 (1), 320.
Rolfe, A., Cash ‐ Gibson, L., Car, J., Sheikh, A., & McKinstry, B. (2014). Interventions for improving patients' trust in doctors and groups of doctors. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews , (3).
