The National Library of Medicine announced a $2.8 million grant to fund the UnBIASED project, which is led by Andrea Hartzler, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education and co-director of the Clinical Informatics and Patient-Centered Technologies program. This research team will analyze patient-doctor communication to detect and provide feedback on implicit biases.
The project will use social signal processing, a computational approach that detects subtle forms of bias that are typically invisible. For example, talk time, interruptions and body movements from healthcare providers might differ based on a patient’s race, gender or socioeconomic status.
By using technology to detect such biases, the researchers hope to provide feedback to clinicians and patients, reducing disparities as a result. They aim is to lay the foundation for training resources that will ultimately enhance the quality of care by improving communication between patients and doctors.
