Experts advise on how hospitals can handle patient bias

Many facilities lack formal policies for handling biased or bigoted behavior by patients toward health care personnel. Attorneys and clinicians collaborating on a July 14 article in the Annals of Internal Medicine offer guidance on devising effective policies that can address the needs of health care organizations, patients, and health care workers. The authors say protocols should be nuanced and tailored to the differing experiences of nurses, physicians and trainees. The authors added, “Written policies are only effective in a climate that supports reporting,” and argued for creating “a dedicated team to field those reports, support the staff and implement procedures.” (STAT News story, 7/13/20)