Healthcare Equality Index 2022

The Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), maintained and updated by the Human Rights Campaign, is a national benchmarking tool that evaluates healthcare facilities’ policies and practices related to the equity and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) patients and employees. The HEI was created over a decade ago in response to landmark survey data indicating LGBTQ individuals report experiencing discrimination from medical personnel due to their LGBTQ status. Such experiences included denial of care, refusal to touch LGBTQ patients, harsh or abusive language, blame for their health status, or physical abuse. The HEI provides information to healthcare institutions to not only hold them accountable for providing high-quality, patient-centered care to LGBTQ people but also to highlight advances and innovative approaches to ensuring such care across the country.

Building on the HEI, the Human Rights Campaign released a summary report of the 2022 HEI findings, which includes a list of the leading LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality hospitals in states across the U.S. and provides data on non-discrimination policies supporting the LGBTQ+ community in healthcare. The report also highlights issues of racism and injustice in healthcare and the experiences and vulnerabilities of the LGBTQ+ community during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The digital data publication includes an interactive map of healthcare facilities and an executive summary.