Serving All Patients

Chuck Colbert at Windy City Media Group reports that a new study conducted by Human Rights Campaign shows that US hospitals have a way to go before they are providing equal access to LGBT patients. While there are some success stories of hospitals who benefit from non-discriminatory care, many have not made the effort to accommodate LGBT patients.

I often write about the web of provider refusal laws (so-called "conscience clauses") that permit denominational hospitals and health centers and their employees to discriminate against patients, including women, gays, the disabled, and the elderly -- including denial of informed consent and meaningful referrals. I hope that more attention paid to the plight of LGBT patients informs the public of the discriminatory nature of these clauses and a need for a national movement for patients' rights. From the story:

Earlier this year when President Barack Obama signed a memorandum, calling for and end to discrimination against gay men and lesbians in hospital visitation policies, he set in motion potential changes that will significantly alter how LGBT people interact with the healthcare system.

But a new report of the nation's LGBT health care practices, released this week, found that far too many of medical care facilities have some way to go in implementing policies that are fully inclusive of gay people.

Representatives of the Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) detailed results of the survey and report, called the Healthcare Equality Index 2010 ( HEI ) , for reporters last week during a telephone press conference. The analysis is included in a 72-page document, accessible at www.hrc.org/hei2010/index1.html . Working with the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, the HRC Foundation produced the fourth annual HEI survey report and its findings.

Conducted October through December 2009, the HEI 2010 reviewed a representative sample of 200 of the largest healthcare facilities nationwide. The report found that in all 50 states—and even in historically LGBT-friendly cities like San Francisco and New York—some facilities still do not fully protect LGBT people from healthcare discrimination. In fact, a whopping 93 percent of healthcare facilities included in the study do not have fully inclusive policies while 42 percent fail to include "sexual orientation" in their non-discrimination policies for patients' bill of rights.