Dive Brief:
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Women are less likely than men to receive blood clot prophylaxis, intensive treatment for heart attack, lifesaving interventions over the age of 50, and to be referred for knee replacement, The New York Times reported.
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Decision support checklists could lead to discovering and addressing gender bias, according to the NYT.
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A structured decision-making process can help to root out individual physician biases and make them more likely to assess all patients, regardless of gender, in the same way.
Dive Insight:
The John Hopkins team developed a digital checklist in 2006 that asks physicians if an admitted patient has risk factors for clots and offers a treatment recommendation.
At the hospital at that time, 45% of women trauma patients failed to receive blood clot prevention treatment, compared with 31% of male trauma patients. After the checklist was introduced, appropriate treatment rose and the "gender disparity disappeared," NYT reported.
Checklists have been used in healthcare for decades, often with success. A simple reminder can shift provider behavior in ways to improve healthcare for all patients. For instance, a checklist reminding providers to wash their hands can lead to substantial reductions in preventable infections.
Gender biases is only one of many that can be found within a hospital's walls. A recent Medscape survey found 16% of the responding physicians admitted biases affected treatment.
The top reported biases included (from top to bottom):
- Language differences;
- Emotional problems;
- Heavier weight;
- Low intelligence;
- Lack of insurance coverage;
- Physical unattractiveness;
- Low income;
- Race different from self;
- Older age; and
- Gender different from self
"The only bias that half of respondents said leads to positive treatment is older age," the report noted.