Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1475102
26 PATIENT & CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE Pronoun pins prove popular among staff, patients at hospitals that adopt them By Kelly Gooch W hen Marcelle Davis, PhD, joined Richmond, Va.-based VCU Health System in the fall of 2020, a large part of her goal revolved around initiatives to improve inclusivity. One such opportunity came about during her first week as VCU Health's inaugural director of diversity, equity and inclusion. A medical student reached out to her to ask if the health system could provide pronoun pins for residents, but she hit several road- blocks as she investigated the issue due to COVID-19 restrictions, Dr. Davis told Beck- er's. en earlier this year, she asked about it again, which led to introducing pronoun pins to VCU Health's 12,000 employees. Dr. Davis, who now is vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at VCU Health, said the five-hospital health system's marketing team designed the pins, got them made and paid for the first 5,000 pins. e initial order of 5,000 pins came in at the end of April, and VCU Health began distributing them in May. ere are four pin offerings — she/her/hers; he/him/his; they/them/theirs; and Ask me about my pronouns. As of June 13, more than 3,000 pins had been distributed to employees. "Using correct pronouns is a basic way to show respect for an individual's gender identity. We can't determine a person's gen- der identity by their outward appearance. We certainly can't determine what pronoun they identify with from their outward ap- pearance," Ms. Davis said. "So, the pronoun pins share that information openly and can make individuals feel safe and included because we're all identifying ourselves with our pins." Meanwhile, the feedback from employees has been positive, said Ms. Davis. She said the pins are voluntary, and each employee who receives one also receives educational information on the value of the pins and the purpose of them in the workplace. "We haven't had any pushback. Employees who don't want to wear pronoun pins, that's fine, but no pushback at all," she added. VCU Health isn't the only healthcare orga- nization offering pronoun pins or buttons to employees. Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor began doing so in August 2021, according to the Bangor Daily News. Pronoun buttons were offered to staff, patients and visitors. ere are several of- ferings — he/him/his, she/her/hers, he/they, she/they and they/them/theirs. EMMC patient experience director Sarah Joy told the Bangor Daily News: "Using someone's desired gender pronouns is one of the main ways to show respect for their identity." Hospital spokesperson Amy Kenney said June 13 that she anticipates more than 1,200 buttons have been handed out to employees and patients total. e hospital has 4,000 employees. "We have received a great, positive response about them so far. People have been grateful for the inclusion effort," she told Becker's. Dr. Davis, with VCU Health, said she expects more hospitals to adopt similar pronoun initiatives, particularly given the importance of ensuring an optimal patient experience. n Patients getting more face time with physicians but disparities remain, study finds By Erica Carbajal T he annual face time patients spent with outpatient physicians rose from 40 to 60.4 minutes from 1979 to 2018, according to findings published June 6 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Researchers from Cambridge (Mass.) Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School in Boston used the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to analyze data on more than 1 million patient visits from 1979 to 2018. Three findings: 1. The increase in annual outpatient physician face time per capita was driven by a rise in mean visit length, rather than the number of visits, researchers said. 2. From 2005 to 2018, mean annual face time with primary care physicians fell from 33.8 to 30.4 minutes. Research- ers said this decline was offset by increased time spent with specialists. Declining primary care visit rates and face time may explain worsening rates of hypertension and diabetes, since these conditions are mostly managed by primary care teams, the study said. 3. Disparities widened for minority patients throughout the study period. From 2014 to 2018, white patients saw physicians for 70 minutes per year, relative to 52.4 minutes among Black patients and 53 minutes among Hispanic patients. The gap was mainly driven by time spent with specialists. n