Although the disheartening data around unconscious bias is out there - blacks are 34% less likely to be prescribed proper pain medicine for conditions such as abdominal pain, black women die at 3-4x the rate of white women during childbirth, are 22% more likely to die from heart disease, and 71% more likely to die from cervical cancer - it's still really hard for people to believe it. So the idea is really simple: prove in a live experiment unconscious bias is a sad reality and leads to poor healthcare outcomes.

NARRATOR : The following is real experiment. We asked an actress to call a 24-hour nurse helpline the same script with appendicitis symptoms. We asked her to make the same call more than 30 times over a 2 week period, but changing two key details: the race of her name and voice. Here’s what happened:

[SFX: The sound of a phone dialing]

NARRATOR: “Black name” and “Black voice” calls

[SFX: The sound of a ringing tone]

NURSE: Thank you for calling, I’m a registered nurse how can I help you?

MALE NURSE: Thank you for calling, I’m a registered nurse how can I help you?

NURSE 2: Thank you for calling, I’m a registered nurse how can I help you?

LAKISHA: Hi, my name is Lakisha Washington and I’m calling cuz I have a real bad pain in the

middle of my stomach right now, and I need some help.

NURSE 2: Has it been constant, or does it come and go?

LAKISHA: It’s been constant, like throughout the day. [Quickly run through other questions]

NURSE 2: Is it above or below your belly button? Moderate pain or severe pain?

So, I’m gonna recommend for you to be seen today within the next four hours. ... at the urgent care.

LAKISHA: Ok.

[SFX: The sound of a phone dialing]

NARRATOR: “White name” and “White voice” calls

[SFX: The sound of a ringing tone]

NURSE 3: Thank you for calling, I’m a registered nurse. What’s your last name?

NURSE 4: Thank you for calling, I’m a registered nurse. What’s your last name?

NURSE 5: Thank you for calling, I’m a registered nurse. What’s your last name?

SARAH: My last name is Shields.

NURSE 5: Alright, first name?

SARAH: Sarah.

NURSE: And how can I help you today?

SARAH: I actually woke up this morning in immense pain, uhm I had a very sharp pain in my stomach. Uhm, and I wanted to see what the best course of action would be?

NURSE: Ok, does the pain come and go or is it constant? SARAH: It’s constant.

[Quickly run through other questions]

NURSE: Ok, and where is it located on your stomach?

If you split your stomach into quarters, upper, lower, left, or right?

Alright, so I’m going to recommend you going to the ER and make sure somebody else drives you, okay?

SARAH: Okay, alright, I will do that. Thank you so, so much.

NARRATOR: With symptoms of severe abdominal pain, the difference between going to Urgent Care or the Emergency room can be life or death. Unconscious bias in medicine is a dangerous condition in healthcare.

Visit thecallexperiment.com today to learn more and take action. Empowher NY. Outgrow yourself.

Although the disheartening data around unconscious bias is out there - blacks are 34% less likely to be prescribed proper pain medicine for conditions such as abdominal pain, black women die at 3-4x the rate of white women during childbirth, are 22% more likely to die from heart disease, and 71% more likely to die from cervical cancer - it's still really hard for people to believe it. So the idea is really simple: prove in a live experiment unconscious bias is a sad reality and leads to poor healthcare outcomes.