What is the recommended approach to address implicit bias in clinical decision-making?

• A. Ignore personal biases.
• B. Engage in training, reflect on personal biases, use standardized protocols, and ensure equitable care; seek feedback.
• C. Rely solely on intuition.
• D. Deny that bias exists.

Answer: (B)

Implicit bias can influence patient care even when we don’t realize it, so the best approach is to address it with a comprehensive, proactive strategy. This means engaging in bias-awareness training to surface automatic attitudes, taking time for honest reflection on how these biases might influence decisions, and using standardized, evidence-based protocols or checklists to reduce variability in care. Coupled with an explicit commitment to equitable care and ongoing feedback from colleagues and patients, this approach helps identify and correct biased patterns, monitor progress, and improve outcomes. Merely ignoring biases, relying on intuition, or denying bias exist allows unfair patterns to persist, whereas the combination of awareness, structured processes, and feedback creates a more fair and consistent decision-making process.