Designing a future for cancer care that values diversity, equity, and inclusion was the focus of the virtual Close the Gap Conference produced by SurvivorNet, in collaboration with NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.

Among the panelists were Marilyn Fraser, MD, chief executive officer at the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, and Joseph E. Ravenell, MD, associate professor in the Departments of Population Health and Medicine and co-leader of the Community Outreach and Engagement Program at Perlmutter Cancer Center, who discussed the implicit bias that healthcare providers bring with them when treating people with cancer.

“Oftentimes providers come with their own biases, whether it’s race or whether it’s some bias against someone from a different socioeconomic class,” Dr. Fraser says. “Those biases need to be checked so people get the best care.”

“These biases can impact treatment decisions, albeit unconsciously sometimes,” Dr. Ravenell says. “It’s important for us to keep in mind that provider bias is a definite and measurable cause of health disparities that we see, including cancer health disparities.”

Watch the entire Close the Gap Conference on SurvivorNet.