Electronic medical records and the transgender patient: recommendations from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health EMR Working Group

TLDR

Transgender patients require EHR systems to capture chosen names, gender identities, and sex‑specific health information, and WPATH provides international standards for their care. In 2011, WPATH convened a multidisciplinary working group of clinicians and IT specialists to develop recommendations for EHR developers, vendors, and users regarding transgender patient data. The paper presents the working group’s recommendations and rationale for EHR handling of transgender patients.

Abstract

Transgender patients have particular needs with respect to demographic information and health records; specifically, transgender patients may have a chosen name and gender identity that differs from their current legally designated name and sex. Additionally, sex-specific health information, for example, a man with a cervix or a woman with a prostate, requires special attention in electronic health record (EHR) systems. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) is an international multidisciplinary professional association that publishes recognized standards for the care of transgender and gender variant persons. In September 2011, the WPATH Executive Committee convened an Electronic Medical Records Working Group comprised of both expert clinicians and medical information technology specialists, to make recommendations for developers, vendors, and users of EHR systems with respect to transgender patients. These recommendations and supporting rationale are presented here.