by Dr. Colin Fields, Kaiser Permanente Washington
The medical profession continues our work to deliver quality, inclusive care that meets the needs of gender-diverse populations, especially as we more fully understand the impact that gender dysphoria has on a patient’s total health, including depression and anxiety. With gender dysphoria recognized as a serious health issue, health systems can better support appropriate and equitable care for gender-diverse people and overcome social and medical inequities.
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) is expected to release updated standards of care by this fall that may include new medical criteria for gender-affirming facial procedures. At the beginning of the year, the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington announced that it has broadened its medical criteria for gender-affirming facial procedures, which include a broad range of procedures based on each person’s unique needs, including chin augmentation, facial hair removal, jaw recontouring, and tracheal shaving. Clinicians and patients work together to create the appropriate care path based on medical necessity.
When we announced the new medical criteria for facial harmonization procedures, the response from patients was immediate, reinforcing the need and demand for these life-changing services.
To deliver gender-affirming care with dignity and sensitivity for our transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse patients, a gender-health social worker coordinates care with a specialist team consisting of clinicians in plastic surgery, primary care, adolescent medicine, gynecology, urology, mental health, social work, physical therapy, speech therapy, and nursing. This team collaborates to provide patients with gender-affirming health care services, including hormone consultations, surgical evaluations, psychological services, facial harmonization, top surgeries, and lower-body surgical care.
And we realize that our expertise is just one step of many that are needed. We need to include our patients’ perspectives and experiences to ensure a responsive approach to addressing the needs of gender-diverse patients. That’s why we’ve established a Gender Health Patient Advisory Panel to create an ongoing dialogue and deliver an exceptional experience for our patients with gender-related health care needs. The advisory panel will help inform innovation and care improvement, improve cultural responsiveness among care teams and staff, and ensure that care decisions are driven by patients’ best interests. The panel will begin meeting this spring, and we’re excited to learn and grow from it.
Kaiser Permanente’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion fosters a workplace that supports LGBTQ employees. We are proud to be recognized for the 15th consecutive year by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, which awarded us the highest possible score on its 2021 Corporate Equality Index [www.hrc.org/resources/corporate-equality-index] and named us a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.
We’re proud to continue our work in the medical field to provide truly inclusive care. At Kaiser Permanente, we have prioritized ongoing training and improvement to deliver on that promise. We hope our learning will help move the field further and faster. Our patients, who inspire us daily with their bravery and authenticity, deserve it.
This article appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of Unite Seattle Magazine
