Doctors Significantly More Likely to Use Negative Language in Post-Visit Summaries of Black Patients

A recent study published in the journal JMIR Medical Informatics has found an alarming discrepancy among the verbiage used in the electronic health records of Black and Hispanic patients compared to White patients. The authors examined the post-visit medical records of Black, White, and Hispanic patients seen by a sample of 281 physicians. Compared to White patients, the summaries of visits with Black patients were significantly more likely to include negative adjectives, such as unkind or stupid, as well as words associated with fear or disgust, such as attack or criticize. The authors found a similar negative racial bias towards Hispanic patients. As racial disparities in healthcare continue to persist, the authors believe their findings shed light on an opportunity to minimize unconscious bias among providers. They suggest implementing algorithms that can detect bias in post-visit summaries could be the first step towards reducing racial health disparities. The post Doctors Significantly More Likely to Use Negative Language in Post-Visit Summaries of Black Patients appeared first on The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.