A Case of a Micronesian Woman in Hawai'i with Lymphoma and the Role of Implicit Bias in Medicine Affecting Her Care.

Abstract

Medically indigent patients, patients of color, those with insufficient health insurance, or patients with severe diseases have a high rate of poor health care quality caused by unconscious implicit and explicit biases. Awareness of the relationship between unconscious implicit bias and negative health care outcomes is increasing in the health care community. The objective of this case study was to examine implicit biases that negatively affected the patient care of a young Micronesian woman with a severe cutaneous disease in Hawai'i. Her medical care and death may have been affected by a combination of implicit biases, including bias based on her race, type of health insurance, and underlying disease. Implicit biases and their role in health care disparities are often unintentional and not obvious. Increased awareness by health care providers may help to avoid inequities in clinical decision-making and improve outcomes.