Healthcare Equality Index Certification
Challenge
Lifespan, while committed to continually evaluating its patient, visitor and employee inclusion policies knew it could do more to ensure equality and inclusion for the LGBTQ community. To objectively measure and demonstrate progress, Lifespan joined the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), developed by the Human Rights Campaign. The HEI benchmarks and evaluates the equity and inclusion of LGBTQ patients, visitors and employees for participating hospitals in the US.
Actions
Meeting the top performer benchmark standard set by the Human Rights Campaign has led to several changes at Lifespan, including:
Policy Revisions
- Several policies, including Patient Rights, Non-Discrimination, Visitation Rights, and others were
- revised to include key terms such as sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and others.
Training and Resources
- Lifespan added a Diversity-based intranet web page for employees, providing tools and education information.
- Lifespan has developed an LGBTQ+ foundation education series for our learning management system.
Patient/Family Inclusion
- Lifespan’s medical records system has been updated to offer expanded options to describe a patient’s relation to parents, guardians and partners that account for same sex relationships.
Outcomes
Lifespan achieved the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) certification of ‘Top Performer’. This, along with programs developing in our Community Health and Community Relations areas, helps to improve communication and cultural appreciation with our patient and business community.
Contact
David Goldman
Quote
The mission of our organization is Delivering health with care, a philosophy that extends beyond medical treatment. It encompasses both the actions we take and the interpersonal interactions we have with our patients, visitors and employees. In living our shared values of compassion, accountability, respect and excellence, we embrace the culture and background of everyone with whom we interact. We appreciate and respect the language, culture, religion and all the characteristics that make us who we are. Inclusion is a fundamental tenet of our culture which translates into more favorable patient outcomes, greater patient satisfaction, and improved employee satisfaction.