SOGI is an acronym for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, and each person has one.

If you’ve signed up on a patient portal, you’ve probably encountered a SOGI data field. In this blog post, we’ll dive into SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) data fields in electronic health records (EHRs) from whether it’s required to answer how your SOGI information. Before we get into that, let’s define some terms we’ll use through this blog post.

Terminology Regarding SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity)

SOGI: This is an acronym for Sex Orientation and Gender Identity. In EHRs (electronic health records), your SOGI information typically consists of your legal name, preferred name, preferred pronouns, legal sex, sex assigned at birth (SAAB).

Sexual Orientation: This is how you would characterize your sexual and emotional attraction to other people.

Gender Identity: This is your internal sense of yourself as a man, woman, nonbinary, genderqueer, agender, or one or more other genders.

Legal Name: This is your name that is used for legal and insurance purposes, and may or may not be the same as your preferred name.

Preferred Name: This is the name you want to be called by your healthcare provider and other people, if different from your preferred name.

Preferred Pronouns: These are the pronouns that you want your healthcare provider and other people to refer to you when not using your name. Examples include: he/him/his, she/her/hers, or they/them/theirs.

Legal Sex: This is the gender/sex label(s) that are used for legal purposes such as your identity documents, medical records, and health insurance. You may change your sex/gender on your legal documents to better align with your gender identity.

SAAB: This is an acronym for Sex Assigned at Birth. People are assigned a label as either “male” or “female” by a medical professional when they are born based on their genitals.

Am I Required to Answer Question About SOGI?

No. Please share only information that you feel comfortable sharing.

How Would Your SOGI Information Be Used?

Preferred Name: This will be used in communications with you and when referring to you in communications between providers regarding your care (for example, letters and forms).

Legal Name: When a preferred name is not given, your legal name will be

used and in specific situations – such as in verifying insurance, legal documentation, and other communications sent outside your healthcare provider.

Preferred Pronouns: These are documented in your medical record.

Legal Sex: Your medical providers use this to inform the care they provide to you and how they code certain procedures in your medical record and bill your insurance.

Sex Assigned at Birth: If your sex assigned at birth is different from your legal sex, your medical provider must be aware of this because it may be clinically relevant for your care.

Gender Identity: This will be used to help provide care that affirms your identity.

Sexual Orientation: This is available only to clinical staff to view and update.

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