Transitioning to Adult Health Care
What is Health Care Transition?
Last Updated on May 14, 2025
Health care transition prepares pediatric patients to manage their own health care as they become adults. A smooth healthcare transition is most likely to occur when families and healthcare professionals work together to help pediatric patients gain the skills needed to successfully manage their own health care.
When children are young, parents or guardians typically help with health and medical needs such as scheduling appointments, completing medical forms, making treatment decisions, and monitoring medications. It is important that pediatric patients gradually assume responsibility for these tasks so that they can successfully manage their health as an adult.
Starting as early as age 12, parents and healthcare professionals should begin laying the groundwork so that pediatric patients have the necessary skills to transition to adult care by their early 20’s.
Got Transition® is the national resource center on healthcare transition. A program of the National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health, Got Transition® aims to improve the transition from the pediatric to the adult healthcare world. Their information-packed website provides a wealth of resources and guidance for parents, children, and healthcare providers.
Information for Parents
When your child reaches legal adulthood (typically age 18) they are responsible for:
- Communicating with their medical providers about their health Healthcare providers are required by law to protect the privacy of your child’s medical information. This means that once your child is 18, they cannot share medical information about your child with you unless they have your child’s written consent.
- Making their own healthcare decisions While your child may still ask for and want your help when making medical decisions, once your child is a legal adult, they bear the responsibility for making decisions about their healthcare.
- Managing their care Your child will not always be living with you. Are they responsible for remembering to take their own medications? Do they schedule their medical appointments? Do they understand and know enough about their medical conditions and health to make healthcare decisions?
Use the Got Transition® toolkit to prepare your child to take charge of their health.
Information for Teens
You will soon be responsible for managing your health and making important decisions about your healthcare. Read these sample questions below from Got Transition® which assess your readiness for transition to the adult medical world.
Can you answer YES to these statements?
- I know my personal and family health history.
- I can explain my health needs to others.
- I know my allergies to medications.
- I know how to schedule and cancel my own health-care appointments.
- I talk to the doctor instead of my parent/caregiver talking for me.
- I see the doctor on my own during appointments and know how to ask questions when I don’t understand what my doctor says.
- I know how to get a referral if I need it.
- I know how to re-order my medications from the pharmacy and to take my medication without someone telling me.
- I know how to fill out medical forms.
- I know how to get a summary of my medical information (e.g. online portal).
- I understand health insurance terms such as in-network, out-of-network, deductible, co-pay, out of pocket maximum, PPO, and HMO.
(Explore the Full List of Questions.)
Were your answers mostly YES? You are well on your way to being able to successfully manage your health needs as an adult. Were your answers often NO? Start learning now. Work with your parents and your healthcare providers to learn what you need to know to successfully transition to adult healthcare.
