Vizient Earns High Score in Human Rights Campaign’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index

Vizient announces its first rating on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s assessment of LGBTQ workplace equality

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vizient, Inc., the nation’s largest member-driven health care performance improvement company, has received a score of 85 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index, the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. Vizient joins the ranks of 1,142 major U.S. businesses that were also ranked in the 2021 CEI.

“We are thrilled to score so well in our first year participating in the survey,” stated Bharat Sundaram, president and chief operating officer for Vizient and executive sponsor for the PRIDE Diversity and Inclusion group. “We’re proud of our achievement, and we’re grateful for the Human Rights Campaign for acknowledging our accomplishments and illuminating exactly where we can focus to improve our efforts at inclusivity in our workplace, a core value at Vizient.”

“From the previously unimaginable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to a long overdue reckoning with racial injustice, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Yet, many businesses across the nation stepped up and continued to prioritize and champion LGBTQ equality,” said Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President. “This year has shown us that tools like the CEI are crucial in the work to increase equity and inclusion in the workplace, but also that companies must breathe life into these policies and practices in real and tangible ways. Thank you to the companies that understand protecting their LGBTQ employees and consumers from discrimination is not just the right thing to do—but the best business decision.”

The results of the 2021 CEI showcase how 1,142 U.S.-based companies are not only promoting LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies in the U.S., but also for the 57% of CEI-rated companies with global operations who are helping advance the cause of LGBTQ inclusion in workplaces abroad.

The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to over 18 million U.S. workers and an additional 17 million outside of the U.S. Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.

The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:

• Non-discrimination policies across business entities;
• Equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families;
• Supporting an inclusive culture; and,
• Corporate social responsibility.

The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc. provides solutions and services that improve the delivery of high-value care by aligning cost, quality and market performance for more than 50% of the nation’s acute care providers, which includes 95% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 20% of ambulatory care providers. Vizient provides expertise, analytics and advisory services, as well as a contract portfolio that represents more than $100 billion in annual purchasing volume, to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. Vizient has earned a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute every year since its inception. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.

About the Human Rights Campaign Foundation

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.