
HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsDeliver custom or industry designed product training directly to patient and resident care environments to reinforce proper use.
View All ProductsTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsExperience standardized and centralized healthcare credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreBy Jennifer Stoop, Product Manager, Compliance & Partner Content, HealthStream
Are your actions or judgments influenced by stereotypes? Have you ever been in an exam room, either as a physician or a patient, and been influenced by stereotypes? You may not think so, but the answer to both of these questions is “yes.” Unconscious bias impacts everyone, and no one is exempt.
Unconscious Bias
Unconscious bias is defined as ideas about certain groups of people that individuals have without being aware of them. Our brains use and recognize patterns among information, events, or people to allow for quick decision making. Research has shown that our brains make decisions up to 10 seconds before we even realize it, meaning our decisions actually take place in the unconscious. When automatic processing is influenced by stereotypes, unconscious or implicit, bias is activated.
There is increasing evidence that unconscious bias leads to false assumptions and negative outcomes for minority groups in healthcare settings. This contributes to health disparities, where certain groups experience inequalities in the provision of and access to healthcare. Health disparities are commonly considered to be an issue of race or ethnicity, but people are subject to unconscious bias based on many factors, including:
What Unconscious Bias Looks Like in Healthcare
There are myriad instances where unconscious bias negatively impacts the healthcare patients receive. For example:
In 2016, the Journal of Clinical Oncology released a study of black cancer patients and their physicians. The study found that providers who were marked as “high” in implicit bias were less supportive of their patients and spent less time with them. Black patients picked up on those attitudes, viewing physicians “high” in implicit bias as less patient centered. Patients also had less confidence in their treatment plans, felt it would be difficult to follow the treatment plan, and had difficulty remembering what their physician said. The study concluded that patients who interacted with physicians with high implicit bias walked away from the interaction feeling as though the physician did not care about them, could not be trusted, and offered a treatment plan that may not work.
Changing Bias in Healthcare
So how do healthcare organizations create change around bias? It requires much more than a vision statement, a diversity committee, and training program. There must be a commitment to a culture change by building institutional capacity for change and creating equitable environments.
Physician vulnerability to unconscious biases is heightened by the conditions under which they work today, including high levels of stress, frequent distractions, and brief visits that leave little time to get to know patients. The focus should be on reducing the impact of unconscious biases on physician-patient interactions and medical decision-making. That process can begin just by recognizing that unconscious bias not only exists, but exists within us, no matter how much we don’t want to believe they do.
Physicians must see their patients as individuals rather than part of a faceless group. This can be done by not only identifying each patient’s unique qualities and/or features, but also putting yourself in their shoes. The black female patient becomes Sandra, a school-age teacher who has 2 kids of her own, had to take off work to come to the doctor’s office, and needed to find childcare.
Another strategy is to consider the opposite conclusion when making decisions. When data seems to point to one conclusion, take a minute to look for data that supports the opposite conclusion before making a final decision. You can also counter stereotypes by spending time with individuals from groups you have bias toward; This can give you a deeper understanding of the differences. It also allows you to explore new perspectives and increases the opportunity for positive physician-patient interactions.
Unconscious biases are real, exist within all of us, and can have significant negative impacts on the quality of healthcare that patients receive. With meaningful effort, we can work to counteract these biases and improve the interactions between physicians and patients. Learn more about HealthStream training to combat bias and support diversity.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ResuscitationIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsLearn more about HealthStream's Provider Credentialing, privileging, & enrollment solutions.
View All CredentialingExperience standardized and centralized healthcare credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All Scheduling & Capacity ManagementHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
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