David J. Klocko is an Associate Professor and Academic Coordinator in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, School of Health Professions, Dallas. The author has no significant financial relationships to disclose.
Conclusion This article reminds health care providers that cognitive biases can influence clinical decision-making. Clinicians should be aware of how System 1 and System 2 thinking couple with unconscious cognitive biases to affect clinical decisions and patient safety. Once a provider identifies a bias, he or she should attempt to employ one or more debiasing techniques. Medical decision errors usually occur due to multiple factors, and one thinking mode is not more error prone than the other (analytic versus intuitive). Cognitive errors are also caused by knowledge gaps and faulty patient data processing. Future research is needed to assess outcomes of quality improvement projects that include these components.
