My lede:

The American Medical Association came out in favor of ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that requires gays in the military to hide their sexual orientation from their physicians and others. Delegates to the AMA Interim Meeting said the policy threatens the physician-patient relationship and compromises the medical care of gay patients in the military.

The military reserves the power to inspect service members’ medical records for combat readiness purposes. So any mention of their sexual orientation could result in discharge under the federal law governing the military’s policy on gays, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The whole shebang.

And here is a round-up of my other stories from the AMA’s Interim Meeting in Houston.

The Association called for a review of marijuana’s schedule I status; said drivers should keep their hands on wheel; rejected ordering medical residents to sleep; took a pass on requiring doctors to get flu shots; and debated physicians’ role in controlling health care costs.

My lede:

Hospitals that disproportionately care for poor patients are less likely than other hospitals to have adopted health information technology, says a new study. The research finds the digital divide is associated with differences in how well hospitals address racial and ethnic disparities in care and highlights the importance of helping hospitals go electronic.

Researchers surveyed 2,368 hospitals about their use of electronic systems for 24 functions such as physician notes, discharge summaries, test results viewing, order entries and decision support. The hospitals that served the most Medicaid, black and Hispanic patients, according to a Medicare measure known as the disproportionate-share hospital index, had lower rates of adoption than hospitals that served the fewest such patients, said the Health Affairs study published online Oct. 26.

The whole shebang.