Healthgrades has collaborated with OutCare Health, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQ+ health equity, to launch a new LGBTQ+ affirming care designation on its site.
The designation identifies providers committed to providing affirming care to the LGBTQ+ community by integrating OutCare’s “OutList,” which is the largest international directory of such providers, according to the company. Part of RVO Health, a partnership between Red Ventures and Optum, Healthgrades helps millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments.
Providers interested in joining the list must include details of their clinical training, values, goals, experiences and more. That information undergoes a rigorous review by the OutCare team before being publicly added to the database, according to the company. It is open to providers of all identities, distinctions and specialties. Providers can apply to join here.
The latest partnership “is really focused on how can we broadcast this very, very important list of providers to many, many more audiences than what OutCare was historically capturing,” OutCare founder and President Dustin Nowaskie, M.D., who uses gender-neutral pronouns, told Fierce Healthcare.
Nowaskie cautioned there is a difference between being LGBTQ-friendly and LGBTQ-affirming providers. “Friendly in many ways implies that you’re willing to see people. That does not necessarily mean, though, that you're going to provide affirming care or what’s best for them,” they said.
"This new designation symbolizes our ongoing efforts to provide consumers honest and transparent insights into how doctors treat their patients and listen to their concerns," Brad Bowman, M.D., chief medical officer of Healthgrades, said in a statement.
Approximately half of all Americans that see a doctor every year visit Healthgrades. But Nowaskie said that historic discrimination and stigma against the community could impact the number of LGBTQ+ patients that access the resource.
A recent study conducted by Healthgrades and OutCare Health found that medical gaslighting disproportionately affects LGBTQ+ patients (47%) compared to cisgender, heterosexual people (26%). The study also found that trust in the healthcare system is far lower among LGBTQ+ communities (17%) than cisgender, heterosexual communities (33%).