Adolescent Gynecology

As your body changes and matures, you may have special needs, concerns, and questions that you don't feel comfortable talking with your parents or friends about. That's where the doctors at Capital Women's Care come in. We take pride in providing the kind of one-on-one care that makes you feel comfortable talking about your health in a safe and confidential environment.

In addition to providing initial and routine gynecological care, the doctors at Capital Women's Care also provide care geared specifically for adolescents:

  • Menstrual irregularities
  • Heavy bleeding
  • Missed periods
  • Menstrual cramps
  • Delayed first period
  • Pelvic Pain
  • Vaginal and pelvic infections
  • Breast lumps
  • Uneven breast growth
  • Vaginal discharge.

Confidentiality

At Capital Women's Care, we take great pride in providing counseling and educational services designed specifically for adolescents. Areas of focus include contraception, prevention of sexually transmitted disease, and prevention of date rape.

There may be times when you want to talk with your doctor in confidence. At Capital Women's Care, we understand and respect that desire. To ensure and protect your right to the confidentiality of your personal health information, we follow a law called HIPAA and want to make sure you understand how this law applies to you and your health care.

The HIPAA Law refers to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Health Insurance Portability means that you can take your health information with you if you change doctors. Accountability means that only people who need your health information can see it.

Here are a few web sites that contain information on the HIPAA Law.

Parents generally have the right to make health care decisions for their children and so are, by default, considered the personal representatives for decisions about their children's protected health information (PHI) access, use, and disclosure. The general principle used by HIPAA's Privacy Rule is a simple one: if a person has a right to make a health care decision, then he or she has the right to control information associated with that decision. However, as a minor, your PHI is subject to three important general exceptions:

  • You control your PHI that is associated with treatment that does not first require parental consent (for example, HIV testing, prenatal care and mental health services).
  • Your parents do not control PHI when a court determines or other law authorizes someone other than a parent to make treatment decisions for you.
  • Your parents do not have rights to your PHI in cases where they have agreed to a confidential relationship between you and a health care provider.