I feel that the sexual orientation and gender identity of patients should be included in Electronic Health Records. I view it as the same concept of health care provider knowing your allergies, if your sexually active, or what medications you are on. It is all relevant. Especially for the LGBT community. There are so many health risks associated with the LGBT community that could be prevented or properly treated in a timely manner to prevent further complications if their sexual orientation and gender identity were to be a general charting practice. The LGBT community would be able to get the right help with contraception, medication, or their mental health. I understand that many LGBT may be apprehensive about sharing this information with their health care providers for fear of judgement or ridicule but if we promote understanding and acceptance from our health providers I think it will be a great benefit to the LGBT community.
Knowing the gender identity of your patients will ensure that you do not offend them by using the wrong gender pronouns when talking to them or about them to other health care staff. This will hopefully improve the trust and comfort level between the patient and their health care provider. Knowing the patient's sexual orientation would be beneficial for the prevention or detection of sexually transmitted infections or mental health concerns. With proper screenings the instances of sexually transmitted diseases could drastically decrease for future LGBT. The spread of HIV could also be prevented with proper screenings and patient education. This knowledge could also help with other everyday patient concerns such as contraception, family planning, aging, and other patient concerns.
Overall I think collecting this data will have so many benefits for every patient and health care provider.
~ Samantha Holzberger
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