Rapid Clinical Decisions in Context: A Theoretical Model to Understand Physicians’ Decision-Making With an Application to Racial/Ethnic Treatment Disparities

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to draw on previous work in multiple disciplines to establish a theoretical framework for clinical decision-making that incorporates non-medical factors, such as race/ethnicity, into the way physicians make decisions in the practice of medicine. The proposed Rapid Clinical Decision in Context (RCDC) model attempts to understand the influence of various contextual elements on physicians’ decision-making process. The RCDC model provides a basis for future studies to move beyond documentation of areas where disparities exist to understand the causes of the disparities and designing interventions to address those causes. The paper concludes with a discussion on possible studies to test the proposed model.

Citation

Tamayo-Sarver, J.H., Dawson, N.V., Hinze, S.W., Cydulka, R.K., Wigton, R.S. and Baker, D.W. (2005), "Rapid Clinical Decisions in Context: A Theoretical Model to Understand Physicians’ Decision-Making With an Application to Racial/Ethnic Treatment Disparities", Jacobs Kronenfeld, J. (Ed.) Health Care Services, Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Underserved Populations: Patient and Provider Perspectives (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 23), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 183-213. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0275-4959(05)23009-0