LA Times: Medical bias can be deadly. Our research found a way to curb it.

From The LA Times: Ask most any woman about her experience with the American healthcare system and you will likely hear stories of medical maltreatment in the form of dismissal, undertreatment or incorrect diagnosis. Add racial bias to the mix and a woman’s likelihood of being victimized in medicine is even worse In a study published this month in the journal Nature Communications, my colleagues and I discovered a surprisingly effective answer: an online group reasoning technique known as networked collective intelligence, which basically means getting doctors to exchange treatment options with one another. Think of it as a group chat for specialists. We asked more than 800 practicing clinicians to provide treatment recommendations for either a white male or a Black female patient — portrayed by an actor in a video presentation — showing identical risk factors for cardiac disease. Initially, the Black female patient was over 200% more likely than the white male patient to be sent home rather than receive the guideline recommended care, which is referral to the emergency department. Read the full story in the LA Times.