Although expressions of explicit bias have declined in the United States over time, implicit bias continues to permeate the health care system and affect patient–clinician communication, clinical decision-making, and institutionalized health inequities that persist despite a growing understanding of the professional, ethical, and moral responsibility to address these inequities.
Implicit bias and structural racism among health care professionals leads to disparities in how health care is delivered.
Kenneth V. Williams, DO, the Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity lead for Kaiser Permanente Riverside, shares his mission to help reduce health care disparity.
Diversity and Inclusion Are Essential in the Health Care Industry
"Diversity and inclusion are essential to enhancing cultural competence, improving patient-provider communication, reducing poor outcomes, and providing a varied perspective in health care. Also, a diverse health care workforce can better address the unique needs of a diverse patient population," says Dr. Williams.
Kaiser Permanente and other quality health providers deliver health care every day to people who might not trust the system, which could lead to poor compliance. The goal is to earn the trust and confidence of the disparate population. Dr. Williams shares, “A diverse health care workforce helps in this endeavor, as it is easier to place trust in someone who is culturally similar.”
The biggest challenge for any organization, especially larger organizations is staying sensitive to the varied ethnic, social, religious, economic, and sexual populations (in both the patient populations and workforce) and being aware of any personal biases. Dr. Williams says that the second most important way to remove bias, prejudice, and inequity is “Staying relevant in a dynamic and constantly changing work environment.” Lastly, we need to practice objective and consistent medicine without bias.
Addressing Bias
Kaiser Permanente is one such health Organization continuously looking for ways to address explicit and implicit bias in health care. Here are a few examples of what the organization does and you can seek out if your health care provider does the same:
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Actively recruit minority providers to correlate the workforce with the served population.
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Ongoing educational meetings to help employees recognize their bias, learn about cultural competency, diversity, and inclusion.
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Standardize protocols. The Kaiser Permanente system allows for standardization in practice, thereby reducing variability in practice.
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Data collection and distribution, documenting the disparity between patient demographics for various conditions, and incorporating strategies to reduce the gaps.