It’s time to take action against the implicit bias prevalent within healthcare
Implicit bias can be defined as “the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner.” In healthcare, it is a glaring, systemic flaw that we've allowed to fester for far too long.
The evidence is irrefutable. Study after study has shown that implicit bias contributes to stark disparities in healthcare outcomes. Black patients, for example, are 22% less likely to receive pain medication than their white counterparts. Fewer renal transplants and cardiovascular interventions are provided for non-white patients. This is all the result of a system that claims to treat all patients equally. And the fact that women's pain is routinely underestimated and dismissed? It is completely due to gender bias in healthcare systems.
Let's be honest: Simple education and training on bias recognition and mitigation are just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, they're necessary, but they're hardly sufficient. Educating a few while not taking action will make only the most marginal changes. We need more than just awareness — we need a complete overhaul of how healthcare is delivered and who delivers it.
Systemic changes? Absolutely. But let's go deeper. It’s time to dismantle and rebuild the very foundations of healthcare institutions. Diversity and inclusion policies? Non-negotiable. Patient advocacy and outreach? Absolutely essential. But we also need representation at every level, from the medical school curriculum to the boardroom – healthcare that represents the diversity of all the populations it is meant to serve.
Of course, standardized diagnostic and treatment protocols are also a must to counteract the bias inherent in subjective decision-making. But even these protocols must be continuously monitored to ensure that they do not perpetuate existing biases under the idea of “objectivity.”
To those who argue that this is an impossible task, I say this: The cost of inaction is far too high. We're dealing with human lives – the well-being of entire communities. We must take decisive action to solve and uproot the biases that are inherent throughout the healthcare system. Every patient, regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic status, should receive the same quality of care and empathy.