Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital (BWFH) has earned “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality High Performer” designation from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s (HRC) Healthcare Equality Index.
BWFH was one of 1,065 healthcare facilities participated in the HEI 2024 survey and, of those participants, 462 received the “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality High Performer” designation. The full BWFH scorecard is available on the HRC website.
“We are committed to providing excellent health care for the diverse communities we serve by fostering an inclusive environment where all our patients and employees are treated with dignity and respect,” says Kevin Giordano, president of Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. “I am so proud of our BWFH community for obtaining this outstanding designation and continuing to ensure inclusivity remains a top priority.”
BWFH has committed to several initiatives to meet this aim, including the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity information to ensure appropriate and respectful clinical care, offering gender-affirming services to transgender individuals and providing gender-neutral restrooms to ensure everyone who seeks care on the BWFH campus feels safe within the facility.
While BWFH and others across the country are making strides, the HRC report highlights the additional work needed to ensure LGBTQ+ populations receive equitable care. They include:
- Targeted Health Disparities Reduction Plans: Encouragingly, 71% have an official plan for reducing health disparities that specifically includes LGBTQ+ patients in addition to race, ethnicity and linguistic concerns.
- Work to Be Done: Only 27% have an externally promoted specific program to provide patient navigation or advocacy services to transgender patients.
- Bias Elimination and Welcoming Interactions: Just over half (53%) have a policy or policies that specifically outline procedures and practices aimed at eliminating bias and insensitivity, and ensuring appropriate, welcoming interactions with transgender patients.
- EHR SOGI Data: Major increases are seen in the number of healthcare facilities collecting sexual orientation and gender identity-related data in their Electronic Health Records systems. Seven of the eight relevant data points had double-digit increases.
- Pronouns in Electronic Health Records: The ability to collect and display a patient’s pronouns rose from 44% to 74%. This is an important tool to help prevent misgendering a patient.
- FMLA-Equivalent Benefits: 38% offer FMLA-equivalent benefits that allow employees to take family and medical leave to care for same-sex partners as well as the children of a same-sex partner, regardless of biological or adoptive status – this is up from 34% in 2022.
- Comprehensive Benefits for Domestic Partners: 41% provide medical and comprehensive health benefits to domestic partners of benefits-eligible employees up from 34% in 2022. This is the first increase in this measure since the 2015 Obergefell decision on same-sex marriage.
- Employee Resource Groups: 72% have an officially recognized LGBTQ+ employee resource group.
- Community Engagement and Support: 92% took part in or supported one or more LGBTQ+ related events or initiatives in their service area.
Published 5/20/24
