Racial Bias in Healthcare | Examining the Data

Racial Bias in Healthcare | Examining the Data

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Many people in our country still feel like other people treat them differently because of their race. The relevance of this issue has prompted many companies to address racial biases. (Or, at least attempt to.) Starbucks, for example, recently started a campaign to open up a dialogue about race between their employees and their customers. While this may have seemed like a progressive move in the board room, it was actually met with a lot of criticism. But, one thing this stunt did do was get me thinking about how other industries treat people of color. One of the first that came to mind was the field of healthcare. Does racial bias in healthcare exist? Are doctors purposefully or unintentionally discriminating against people based on their race? In this blog, we’ll dive into racial bias as it pertains to healthcare workers and their patients.

racial bias in healthcare

Racial Bias in Healthcare | The Data

Implicit Association Test

While researching racial bias in healthcare, I came across some very interesting studies. One in particular required over 130 healthcare professionals from Denver to complete psychological testing in order to measure their implicit biases towards patients of different races. The doctors and nurses included in this study were mostly white (80%), with only a small percentage (20%) of the sample population being African American or Hispanic. The test showed the healthcare workers various photographs of faces and asked the participants to quickly assign words to them. Words were either positive in nature, such as “joy,” or had more negatively connotations, such as “nasty.” As you probably know, this is called an Implicit Association Test. This method is a great way to measure the unintentional biases of its participants because they must assign words to images in a very short amount of time.

The Follow-Up Survey

The results of the test showed that approximately two-thirds of the studies’ participants held an implicit bias against people of color. Furthermore, 43% of these bias scores were labeled as “moderate to strong.” After conducting this initial test, the researchers conducted a second survey to examine the effects of these implicit biases on patients. Do these healthcare workers treat their patients differently as a result of their biases? To get the answer, about 3,000 of the physician’s patients were asked to assess their doctors. This survey covered a variety of factors such as overall explanations, perceived sense of caring, etc.

In this portion of the study, all of the healthcare professionals received relatively high ratings. In fact, the average score was 82. This is based on a 100-point scale, with 100 being a perfect rating. African American patients, on average, gave their doctors a score of 80. The lowest ratings came from the Hispanic patient group, which gave an average of 78. However, the most memorable piece of the entire study was the fact that on average, physicians that did show signs on ethnic-biased responses received an average of 6 points lower score than their less-biased counterparts. This means that when a physician has negative thoughts about a patient, they apparently are able to see this.

 What Does This Tell Us About Racial Bias in Healthcare?

While the finding of this study, you have to remember that it only represents a very small sample population. It took place in one city, as opposed to many different facilities across the country. This study sheds some light on racial bias in healthcare, but its findings don’t apply to all healthcare workers. In fact, other recent studies show that although some doctors have implicit biases, these notions have little to no impact on how they treat their patients. The best we can do is continue to research racial bias in healthcare and work on preventative strategies. It’s very important that all patients, regardless of race, feel as though you are treating them fairly.

So, what are your thoughts about racial bias in healthcare? What other studies have you found on this topic? What are some ways that you ensure you are treating your patients equally? Tell us about your experiences in the comments below.

Author: Locum Jobs Online

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