Utilization of Electronic Health Record Sex and Gender Demographic Fields: A Metadata and Mixed Methods Analysis

This CRICO co-funded retroactive study was important because “Sex and gender demographic data are widely viewed as essential to providing culturally responsive gender affirming care and facilitating research and public health interventions.” It analyzed the records of patients 18 years of age or older in the Mass General Brigham health system with a first Legal Sex entry (registration requirement) between January 8, 2018, and January 1, 2022.

Researchers found that “Sex and gender demographic fields are primarily used by administrators and raise concern about data accuracy, provider use is heterogenous and lacking, and provider awareness of field availability and variable workflows may impede use.”

The study concluded, “EHR metadata highlights areas for improvement of sex and gender field utilization.” 

Full-text Citation

Foer D, Rubins DM, Nguyen V, McDowell A, Quint M, Kellaway M, Reisner SL, Zhou L, Bates DW. Utilization of electronic health record sex and gender demographic fields: A metadata and mixed methods analysis. Journal of the American Medical Informatics. 2024 Feb 2:ocae016. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocae016. Epub ahead of print.