If you work in the medical system, you can do your part to address medical racism.

Examine the gap between verbal communication and clinical documentation. A verbal prognosis that diverges from the written record is all too common. Institutions that audit their communication patterns for racial disparity consistently find them. Commit to that audit.

Require implicit bias training that goes beyond awareness. Awareness training without behavioral accountability produces awareness without change. Effective programs build in observable practice changes and measure outcomes by patient demographics over time.

Diversify medical school enrollment and residency pipelines. The single most evidence-supported intervention for reducing racial health disparities is increasing the number of Black physicians practicing in underserved communities. Institutional commitment to pipeline programs is the foundation of structural change.

Create patient advocacy infrastructure. Hospitals that employ patient advocates show measurably better outcomes for minority patients. Advocates are individuals whose job is to represent the patient’s interests rather than the institution’s. It is a policy decision, not a cultural one, and it can be made at the administrative level.

Audit pain management prescribing by race. The data on racial disparities in pain management is consistent across decades and institutions. Hospitals that audit their own prescribing patterns by patient race and then act on what they find are demonstrating institutional accountability. Those that do not audit are choosing not to know.