The hateful physician: the role of affect bias in the care of the psychiatric patient in the ED

• Published in: The American journal of emergency medicine Vol. 32; no. 5; pp. 483 - 485
• Main Authors: Park, Daniel B., MD, Berkwitt, Adam K., MD, Tuuri, Rachel E., MD, Russell, W. Scott, MD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-05-2014; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Affect; Bias; Countertransference (Psychology); Decision making; Emergency; Emergency medical care; Emergency Service, Hospital; Emotions; Female; Hate; Hospitals; Humans; Influence; Male; Mental Disorders - therapy; Physician-Patient Relations; Quality standards; Rejection (Psychology); Subconscious
• ISSN: 0735-6757; 1532-8171
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2014.02.007

To the Editor, Although the role of cognitive biases has received significant attention in recent years as the worlds of behavioral economics and patient safety have collided, emotional influences may play a more crucial function in the outcomes of medical decision making [1]. In busy emergency departments (EDs) with filled waiting rooms and exploding numbers of psychiatric boarders, patients with behavioral or psychiatric complaints may fall prey to affect biases of clinicians, preventing the delivery of quality patient care and potentially the diagnosis of underlying medical illness [8].