Overcoming Cognitive Biases in Medical Decision-Making

Cognitive biases and heuristics are understood as deviations from rational thinking and as leading causes for detrimental and non-rational decisions when searching for a diagnosis. These errors in thinking are especially costly in the field of medical decision-making, as incorrect and irrational decisions cannot only lead to delays in finding the right diagnosis, but also to financial and judicial problems as well as to fatal outcomes for the patient. The current methods for overcoming cognitive dispositions to respond are limited in their success rate and too vaguely defined. Thus, a novel approach for addressing this problem is presented: Integrating the training of executive functions into a teaching program for bias-specific techniques will lead to better results in achieving rational and correct decisions while avoiding cognitive biases. With the help of this approach, the process of diagnosis can be significantly improved - a success for patients and clinicians!