Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) Survey

2022 HEI Leader

UCLA Health received a perfect score and the designation of “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader” in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). The Human Rights Campaign Foundation calls the report “the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey of healthcare facilities on policies and practices dedicated to the equitable treatment and inclusion of their LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and employees.”

“This designation is a testament to our commitment to fostering leading equity, diversity and inclusion practices across the organization, to build a culture that welcomes all,” said Medell Briggs-Malonson, MD, MPH, MSHS, Chief of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for the UCLA Health and associate professor of emergency medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

The HEI evaluates and scores healthcare facilities on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:

  • Foundational Policies and Training in LGBTQ+ Patient-Centered Care;
  • LGBTQ+ Patient Services and Support;
  • Employee Benefits and Policies; and,
  • Patient and Community Engagement.

UCLA Health was one of 496 facilities to earned HRC’s “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader” designation, receiving the maximum score in each section and earning an overall score of 100. 

The remarkable progress reflected in the 2022 HEI includes:

  • 93% of participants met the HEI's training requirements, completing more than 200,000 hours of staff training in LGBTQ+ patient-centered care.
  • 82% of participating facilities earned either the Leader or Top Performer.
  • 99% of HEI participants documented that they include both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their patient non-discrimination policy.
  • 99% of HEI participants documented that they include both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their employment nondiscrimination policy.
  • 81% of HEI participants offer transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits to their employees, up from 75% in 2019, which was the first year it was required in order to obtain Leader status.

Electronic Health Records

UCLA Health is proud of our designation as a Leader in LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality. As a continuation of delivering safe, equitable, affirming and quality care to all of our patients, we are pleased to announce that our organization is one of the first in the nation to adopt systemwide electronic health record changes to support our LGBTQ+ patients.

Preferred name and preferred pronoun in electronic health records

Any patient can request a preferred name and pronoun be updated in our electronic health records. The request can come from a patient who prefers a nickname or from a patient whose gender identity does not match their legal identity.

The preferred name appears in patient headers, ADT labels, inpatient face sheets, ambulatory face sheets and the department appointments report (DAR). The preferred pronoun appears in patient headers and the DAR.

For front desk schedulers and patient access

For providers

Contact

Contact the LGBTQ+ Equitable Care Committee at [email protected] if you have any questions.

All-Gender Restrooms

In accordance with the University’s nondiscrimination policies, All-Gender Restrooms at UCLA are single stall facilities that seek to create an inclusive campus environment and enhance climate for transgender and gender variant people and many other populations. The standardized signage meets California building code while challenging traditional binary notions of gender.