Dealing with hospitals as a homo can be quite the pain. For example, one may not be able to advise on medical treatment for a "partner" to whom they're not officially married.

In an effort to make things easier for the queers, Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association teamed up for the Healthcare Equality Index, a handy guide to gay friendly hospitals across the country:

Just over half of 88 hospitals got top marks under a new rating system created by two national gay-rights organizations which hope the standards will result in more compassionate treatment of gay and lesbian patients.

Policies addressed in the ratings include patient nondiscrimination, visitation and decision-making rights for partners, diversity training for staff, and nondiscriminatory employment practices.

The hospitals participated voluntarily, and the groups behind the report said there will be no effort to rate hospitals which don't want to respond. Instead, they hope many hospitals will strive for high ratings as the survey recurs annually.

The Index also includes prescriptions for good gay medicine, like including "transgender" as a gender choice and "partner" as a relationship status. No word on whether "top" and "bottom" will be suggested.