Managing Implicit Bias and Its Effect on Health Care Disparities

Research shows that unintentional implicit bias can influence the way that physicians treat patients from certain ethnic, cultural, and racial groups. These effects contribute to health care disparities, but this may change once physicians acknowledge their susceptibility to the bias. Developing team skills and tools in perspective-taking, individuation, and cultural humility all help limit the impact of implicit bias on medical care provided.

In this Master Clinician, Kimberly Curseen, MD, will focus on the importance of identifying and addressing implicit bias within a health care team. She will review the unintended consequences of implicit bias in health care disparities, and provide a practical framework for how teams can address these issues to protect patient care.