Study finds racial bias in how clinicians describe patients in medical records

Healthcare DIVE January 20, 2022
Rebecca Pifer

Dive Brief:

• A new study reveals a racial bias in how clinicians describe patients in their electronic health records, raising concerns about stigmatizing language that could contribute to ongoing racial and ethnic healthcare disparities.
• Black patients were 2.5 times more likely to have one or more negative descriptor in their EHR compared with White patients, according to the study published Wednesday in Health Affairs.
• Patients with government insurance and unmarried patients also had higher adjusted odds of negative descriptors compared with commercially insured and married patients.

Dive Insight:

Racial disparities in the U.S. medical system have been well documented, with mountains of research finding massive gaps in care and access for White versus non-White people. However, recent cultural...

Today's Sponsors

Today's Sponsor