Mass-based digital health company Athenahealth has deployed new capabilities focused on making healthcare more inclusive for transgender and non-hybrid patients .
Now, on the AthenaOne platform, an EHR, medical billing and patient care tool, doctors can enter information about a patient’s name, pronoun, and gender identity, in addition to the legal name and designated sex or sex at birth.
The company says the new feature was born out of atheist events in 2021, including Hack for Health Equity and Codefest.
“Health care systems and health IT providers have a responsibility to improve the inclusiveness and accessibility of healthcare options and ensure barriers to all patients are removed. feel respected and confident in the care they are receiving,” Paul Briden, product manager at Athenahealth, said in a statement.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
Many members of the transgender and non-hybrid community have faced discrimination from health care providers and organizations. In fact, according to National Survey on Transgender Discrimination: Health and Care Report, 19% of survey respondents said they were denied care because they were transgender or gender nonconforming.
28% of respondents said they were “harassed in a medical setting” and 50% said they needed to educate doctors about transgender care.
TREND TO BIGGER WOMAN
Today, the medical community is discussing ways to better care for transgender and non-mixed patients. Boston College of Medicine developed a curriculum assessment tool to determine whether the school and other medical schools are adequately teaching the recommended LGBTQ+ competencies. OptumHealth Education also launched a new training program to help health professionals better support the needs of the LGBTQ+ community.
Several startups are also focusing on helping members of the LBGTQ+ community access healthcare. Feather, A virtual platform designed to help members of the transgender community find medical services, has achieved $14 million in Series A funding in 2021.
LGBTQ+ Focused Digital Wellbeing Provider Folx Health hits $25 million in 2021. At the time, the company announced it was kicking off its offerings with a Hormone Replacement Therapy plan, as well as sexual health and wellness services.
