Care of the LGBT Patient and Their Families: Policies, Procedures & Practices to Ensure Quality Care and Reduce Liability

Why Should You Attend:

Because healthcare professionals and organizations assume their patients are heterosexual, questions asked on admission, treatment by professionals, and the quality of patient care may be compromised. Most RNs, MDs and other health professionals are unaware of the detrimental care and discrimination that LGBT patients experience by their caregivers and by the healthcare organization. Not only does this minimize the quality of care, but also increases the likelihood of discrimination and costly law suits from a variety of different laws.

This webcast will focus on creating awareness among healthcare providers and professionals on the impact of a patient’s LGBT status on their healthcare, as well as the potential liability in treating the LGBT patient and her or his family discriminately.

Learning Objectives:

• To list relevant laws, regulations and standards required for health equity and patient-centered care of LGBT patients

• To identify key policy, procedure and practice issues related to LGBT patients and their families to incorporate into already existing policies, procedures and practices
• To discuss opportunities to collect LGBT–relevant data and information during the healthcare encounter
• To identify or revise strategic community outreach efforts to the LGBT population
• To name a variety of resources related to LGBT healthcare

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• Definition of specific LGBT vocabulary such as intersex, queer, cisgender, to name a few, health professionals should be familiar with

• Review of statistics demonstrating the sub-standard care LGBT patients experience within the healthcare milieu
• Discussion about transgenderism
• Illustrate how the Affordable Care Act is being used to bring discrimination charges for poor and discriminatory care to LGBT patients

• Use the JCAHO Guidelines for the treatment of LGBT patients

Who Will Benefit:

• Chief Medical Officer
• Chief Nursing Officer
• VP of Nursing
• Admissions Department
• MDs, RNs
• Therapists - PT, OT, Quality Improvement Director
• Compliance Director
• CEO
• CFO
• Information Systems Manager
• HIPAA Officer
• Compliance Officer
• Chief Information Officer
• Health Information Manager
• Healthcare Counsel/Lawyer
• Office Manager
• Contracts Manager
• Practice Manager
• MDs and Other Medical Professionals
• HR Personnel & Managers Working in Health Care Industry

Dr. Susan Strauss
Workplace and Education Harassment and Bullying Consultant, Strauss Consulting

Dr. Susan Strauss, is a national and international speaker, trainer and consultant. Her specialty areas include management/leadership development, organization development, communication, and harassment and bullying. She is an expert witness for discrimination and harassment lawsuits. She trains and consults with business, education, healthcare, law, and government organizations from both the public and private sector.

Dr. Strauss has authored over 30 book chapters, books, and articles in professional journals. She has been featured on 20/20, CBS Evening News, and other television and radio programs as well as interviewed for newspaper and journal articles.

She has her doctorate in organizational leadership, is a registered nurse with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and human services, a master’s degree in community health, and professional certificate in training and development.

Topic Background:

Whether your employer is a clinic, a hospital, home health, or long term care; whether you are an MD, RN, an occupational therapist, a receptionist, or in the C-Suite, approximately 5% - 10% of your patients may be gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Additional patients may be transgender, intersex, or questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation. The healthcare needs of LGBT patients may appear to be the same as other patients’, but institutionalized heterosexism in healthcare is a real barrier to quality care.

Healthcare providers acknowledge they are serving more LGBT patients, and that they want to provide quality LGBT care, but aren’t sure how to best create and implement the policies, procedures, and practices to ensure best patient outcomes. LGBT patients face a multitude of barriers to equitable care such as: refusals of care, delayed or substandard care, mistreatment, inequitable policies and practices, end-of-life issues, and limits on visitation. The challenges begin from the beginning of the health professionals’ relationship with their LGBT patient—starting from asking them to identify if they are male or female, married or single, on their intake form.

Follow us :