Michael Sun on Racial Biases Hiding in EHRs

<p>The February 2022 issue of Health Affairs focuses entirely on <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/racism-and-health?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=health+podyssey&amp;utm_campaign=february2022issue&amp;utm_content=sun">racism and health</a>. </p><p><br></p><p>It includes papers that trace the long history of racism to present day policies and practices that are the reasons for large and sustained health disparities.</p><p><br></p><p>Racism and bias come in many forms and given the social stigma associated with them, they can be difficult to study. When a study comes along that provides new empirical data on bias, it makes a major contribution to our understanding of this important topic.</p><p><br></p><p>One such study in the <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/racism-and-health?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=health+podyssey&amp;utm_campaign=february2022issue&amp;utm_content=sun">February issue</a> from Michael Sun, a medical student from the University of Chicago, and colleagues is the focus of today's <em>A Health Podyssey</em>.</p><p><br></p><p>Sun and coauthors <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01423?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=health+podyssey&amp;utm_campaign=february2022issue&amp;utm_content=sun">studied bias in how patients are characterized by clinicians</a> through the history and physical notes entered into a patient's electronic health record, or EHR. When a patient is admitted as an inpatient or an outpatient, the notes document the patient's reason for seeking medical care and summarize the patient's medical, family, and social history. </p><p><br></p><p>The notes can also describe the plan to address the patient's medical problems. But what if the way the patient is characterized in these notes is distorted by clinician bias? </p><p><br></p><p>Sun and colleagues examined racial bias in EHRs and found that <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01423?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=health+podyssey&amp;utm