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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2016 Apr 1;23(2):168–171. doi: 10.1097/MED.0000000000000227

TABLE 1.

Barriers to Transgender Medical and Health Care Research Priorities.

  1. Assess the knowledge and sophistication of the provider workforce to provide transgender medical care – along with barriers to that education. Lack of knowledge may manifest as assumed complexity of knowledge needed along with report of anxiety regarding uncertainty. Identify solutions to overcome the knowledge gap.

  2. Assess bias and other barriers to provider care independent of knowledge. The other barriers may include fear of stigma associated with providing transgender medical care. Other barriers may also include bias in the structure of clinics, forms, and electronic medical record systems in addition to gaps in knowledge and bias among support staff. Identify solutions to the gaps which are not solely a lack of knowledge.

  3. Determine the degree to which 3rd-party payer policy impedes access. Determine change needed to overcome the financial barrier to care.

  4. Evaluate other barriers including societal stigma, mental health issue among patients, and socioeconomic issues that represent barriers to transgender individuals receiving high quality care. Evaluate strategies to overcoming these barriers.