If Your Health Provider Never Asks Your Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, They Likely Will Soon

If all goes according to plan, come July 1, LGBTQ health care advocates will be getting a long-sought change. The federal agency that oversees health information technology will mandate that all health information systems it certifies add sexual orientation and gender identity to their core questions. Those are the digital systems, made by various companies and often called electronic medical records (EMRs), where your health care provider inputs your name, date of birth, meds you’re taking, allergies, language spoken, and other key data.