The Bias Time Out in Practice: Mitigating Bias in Recruitment and Performance Evaluation (13X)

Bias in healthcare can be deadly, and numerous studies have established that it is costing our nation more than we can afford—both in poor outcomes and unsustainable spending. A recent Deloitte analysis reported "health care costs for the average American could triple by 2040 if health inequities are unaddressed while annual spending could exceed $1 trillion." As a people-powered industry, our workforce is key to mitigating bias that diminishes safety, quality and trust as well as increases morbidity, mortality and financial instability. We must ensure we are enlisting and supporting healthcare professionals to provide safe, high-quality, equitable care to the communities we serve. However, we continue to experience ongoing disparities in the representation of our workforce reflecting those we serve and advancement into leadership roles.

The Bias Time Out tool builds upon unconscious bias training to provide a systematic approach for mitigating bias in healthcare. Designed to integrate the stepwise process of the clinical time out in ensuring care safety, the Bias Time Out enables users to intentionally identify and mitigate the negative impacts of bias on care and organizational outcomes. The Bias Time Out tool can be practically applied by the many stakeholders and in the wide variety of interactions, decisions, policies, procedures, partnerships and strategies that define and drive the healthcare space. In this session, we will equip participants to apply this anti-bias tool in key workforce processes. Participants will understand how the BTO can be utilized in recruitment to broaden the pool of professionals we can engage. In addition, participants will understand how the BTO can be utilized in performance evaluation to objectively measure performance and position professionals more equitably for advancement opportunities.