Report: Sexual orientation still affecting access to health care

The Human Rights Campaign issued its annual evaluation of how hospitals and other health care facilities score on  care for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients.

Kaiser Health News Capsules blog: LGBT Community Still Has Hurdles In Health Care Equality
This year the Healthcare Equality Index, a report produced by the Human Rights Campaign that shows which hospitals and health care facilities score best on measures relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients, visitors and employees, is flashing some big numbers (Kulkarni, 6/19).

Medscape:  LGBT Patients See Gains But Not Equality In Healthcare Index
The HEI 2012 survey consisted of 24 questions assessing healthcare assess and quality in 4 core areas: nonpatient discrimination, visitation, nonemployee discrimination, and training. The 2012 survey consisted of 407 institutions, a 40% increase over the participation in the 2011 survey. In particular, 71 institutions, encompassing 234 facilities, achieved the status of "Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality" in the 2012 survey, a 162% increase over the number who achieved this status in the 2011 survey (Barber, 6/19).

Modern Healthcare: 40% More Facilities Take LGBT Equality Survey
In January 2011, the CMS released regulations that required hospitals to allow patients to choose their visitors and prohibited discrimination in patient visits based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The Joint Commission subsequently aligned its standards to meet those requirements (Zigmond, 6/19).

CQ HealthBeat: Sebelius Touts HHS Efforts To Improve Care To LGBT Community
This year,[CDC] will identify cases of intimate violence and stalking by sexual orientation. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS program will support HIV prevention and treatment programs for transgender minority women. And the [NIH] will support biomedical research on health issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. All of these initiatives were outlined in a report released Tuesday ... The Obama administration has sought to demonstrate its attention to issues affecting people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), which is a core constituency of Democrats' base voters (Adams, 6/19).