Hospital medicine team perception of diversity and inclusion at work

: Diversity and Inclusion concepts are crucial in healthcare as the patient population we encounter as hospitalist medicine team is diverse. A diverse and inclusive environment for healthcare employees can lead to improved job satisfaction and high-quality medical care of patients. However, hospitalist perspectives on diversity and inclusion in their work environment are not well studied and noted in literature. Understanding hospitalist perspectives of diversity and inclusion is important in promoting organizational culture.

We conducted an online survey of a large hospitalist group at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, from October-December 2019, as part of Hospital Internal Medicine (HIM) Diversity Council (HIM-DC) inception, to understand the perceptions of its staff about diversity and inclusion at work and facilitate the next best steps for the team. The responses to the survey questions were graded on a likert scale. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze and interpret the data.

: Of the 135 team members, 78 responded (58%). Of the respondents, more than 80% never witnessed or experienced discrimination from a colleague, while more than 50% did witness or experience discrimination from a patient/visitor. More than 70% did not report this discrimination. Nearly 90% felt that it was an inclusive environment at work, across different personal attributes. Most of the respondents requested additional cultural education and social events.

Unfortunately, a higher percentage of discrimination is perceived from patients/visitors. This highlights the need for institutional policies about visitor conduct. A high proportion of HIM staff felt inclusive at workplace. Committees such as HIM-DC can augment cultural education and social events to improve team's perception.