Final answer:
Implicit bias likely explains why a healthcare provider would offer cardiac rehabilitation to one patient but not another with similar health presentations. This unconscious bias contributes to disparities in health outcomes among different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, and contravenes the principle of justice in healthcare, which demands equitable treatment.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a health care provider offers cardiac rehabilitation to one patient with heart failure and not another, despite both having similar presentations and health care coverage, it likely reflects an implicit bias. Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions unconsciously. These biases may manifest in health care, as providers may unintentionally offer different levels of care or services based on these underlying biases. The negative effects of implicit bias in health care are well-documented, and they contribute substantially to the disparities in health outcomes that affect racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse populations.
Efforts to improve health disparities include addressing issues such as health education and literacy. With better understanding, patients are empowered to engage with their health care more effectively. Additionally, various studies have underscored the need for systemic changes within the health care system to confront and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care.
The principle of justice in health care emphasizes the equitable distribution and practice of health care services. This includes treating patients fairly and similarly in similar circumstances, without bias, to ensure that personal characteristics such as race or socioeconomic status do not result in disparate treatment or access to care.