What Is DEI in Healthcare? A Guide to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Medical Workplaces
updated on September 16, 2025
Standing for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, DE&I refers to policies and practices designed to welcome people of all backgrounds and ensure they have equal access and support to perform at their best in the workplace.
The essence of DE&I lies in creating an environment where individuals from diverse backgrounds and identities feel valued. This means fostering inclusion for underrepresented groups, varied gender identities, and different ethnicities. DE&I is essential to building a thriving workplace where everyone can flourish personally and professionally. By bringing together individuals with different perspectives, organizations spark innovation and creative thinking. An effective DE&I strategy ensures every employee finds purpose, belonging, and opportunity.
Understanding Diversity
The “D” in DE&I stands for Diversity. Diversity means the presence of a wide range of groups within a community or organization. This includes ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and many other characteristics.
There are two main dimensions of diversity:
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Primary dimensions: traits we cannot change, such as age, ethnicity, gender, abilities, race, and sexual orientation.
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Secondary dimensions: traits we can influence, such as religion, education, income, geographic location, and work experience.
Recognizing these dimensions is important because they shape how people contribute to society and to your company. Acknowledging them also helps employees feel welcome and valued.
Employers benefit from a diverse workforce through stronger creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. People are more comfortable—and therefore more creative—when they don’t feel forced to fit into a mold. Diversity also brings in wider perspectives, knowledge, and skills, which improve decision-making. Promoting diversity is key to creating equitable workplaces and ensuring equal opportunities for all employees.
Implicit biases, including race bias, can affect decision-making in hiring, promotions, and other practices, ultimately limiting workplace diversity. To address this, organizations need to identify and eliminate biases to create more inclusive environments.
The Essence of Equity
While equity and equality are closely related, they differ in meaning. Equality means treating everyone the same, while equity means giving people the resources they specifically need to succeed. For example, in an equality model, a coach gives all players the same shoes. In an equity model, the coach provides shoes that fit each player best.
DE&I initiatives must consider systemic barriers and biases that can hinder equity. Because people come from different backgrounds and experiences, some face more obstacles than others. These barriers may be financial, physical, geographical, or social, and are often shaped by race, class, gender, or ability.
The debate around DEI practices continues. Supporters, including business leaders like Mark Cuban, emphasize their value, while critics—particularly in politics and higher education—have pushed back through legislation.
Alongside systemic barriers, unconscious biases also affect workplace equity. These include:
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Authority Bias: giving more weight to ideas from authority figures.
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Confirmation Bias: favoring evidence that supports personal beliefs while ignoring other perspectives.
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Conformity Bias: aligning with group opinions to avoid conflict.
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Name Bias: judging candidates based on their name.
These biases, even when unintentional, can limit opportunity, hinder career growth, and reduce representation. Addressing them is essential for building a fair and inclusive workplace.
Privilege also plays a role in inequity. It goes beyond wealth—examples include athletic status, attractiveness, education, or belonging to certain social groups. Privilege becomes harmful when it shapes judgments or blinds us to barriers others face.
Six principles of equity in the workplace are diversity, inclusion, equal opportunity, fairness, transparency, and accountability. Ways to promote equity include:
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Advocating for inclusive policies.
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Reducing bias in hiring and promotions.
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Encouraging open communication.
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Providing training on diversity and bias.
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Making pay and benefits transparent.
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Supporting conversations about equity.
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Holding people accountable for discrimination.
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Regularly evaluating workplace climate and acting on results.
Equity requires leadership. When senior leaders model inclusive behavior, prioritize fairness, and support DEI programs, it sets the tone for the entire organization.
Embracing Inclusion
Inclusion is the link between diversity and equity. It goes beyond representation to create a workplace where every individual feels respected, heard, and empowered to contribute.
Diversity ensures differences exist, but inclusion ensures those differences are valued. True inclusion means not only bringing diverse voices to the table, but also making sure they are equally considered.
Inclusive workplaces improve morale, engagement, and productivity. When employees feel included, they are more motivated, loyal, and collaborative. They also experience less isolation and tokenism, allowing them to contribute authentically. This drives innovation, teamwork, and stronger performance.
Benefits of Promoting Diversity
Promoting diversity benefits organizations through:
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Increased innovation and creativity.
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Better decision-making.
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Improved productivity and competitiveness.
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Stronger ability to attract and retain top talent.
Research shows companies with above-average diversity often achieve above-average profitability, reinforcing the business case for diversity and inclusion.
Building a DEI Strategy
A successful DE&I strategy involves several steps:
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Assess the current state of DE&I through surveys and data.
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Set clear goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
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Develop an action plan with steps, resources, and timelines.
This process requires leadership involvement, employee participation, and regular evaluation. Continuous improvement ensures the strategy remains effective as the organization evolves.
The Role of Leadership in DEI
Leadership is critical to DEI success. Senior leaders must allocate resources, prioritize DEI initiatives, and model inclusive behaviors. Many organizations designate a Chief Diversity Officer to oversee training, employee resource groups, and inclusion programs.
By actively promoting DEI, leaders create a culture where employees feel respected and empowered, which boosts engagement, retention, and overall business performance.
Overcoming Challenges and Resistance
Like any initiative, DE&I implementation comes with challenges. Leaders often start strong but struggle with follow-through.
A 2022 Gallup study found only 31% of employees believed their organization was committed to racial justice or equality. Even fewer (25%) reported open conversations about race and equity.
Resistance to DEI also comes from political and cultural pushback, with some critics viewing initiatives as unfair or politically motivated.
The five biggest barriers to DE&I implementation are:
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Lack of goals and metrics.
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Inadequate training.
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No leadership buy-in.
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Budget restrictions.
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Cultural resistance.
Ways to address barriers include:
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Treating DEI metrics like business KPIs.
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Pairing training with ongoing action.
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Hosting listening sessions to engage employees.
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Building a strong business case for budgets.
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Tackling cultural resistance by addressing systemic bias.
Pushback from employees may stem from fear, skepticism, or misalignment with company values. To address it:
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Collaborate with dissenters and hear their concerns.
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Emphasize that initiatives target systems, not individuals.
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Build empathy through awareness and engagement activities.
Measuring and Evaluating Success
To ensure impact, organizations must measure DE&I progress. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces anti-discrimination laws that support DE&I efforts.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for DE&I can include workforce demographics, leadership representation, pay equity, retention, and employee satisfaction.
Tools such as surveys, data analysis, and visualization software help organizations track and analyze metrics. Regular evaluation ensures strategies adapt to changing needs and remain effective.
Best Practices for DEI
Best practices include:
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Providing ongoing diversity and bias training.
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Establishing employee resource groups.
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Using inclusive hiring practices and unbiased job descriptions.
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Addressing systemic inequities, not just representation.
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Tracking progress through metrics and surveys.
DE&I Beyond the Workplace
DE&I extends beyond internal culture—it influences consumers, stakeholders, and brand perception. In fact, 51% of U.S. adults say they are more likely to support companies with public DE&I commitments.
Ways to expand DE&I externally include:
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Reporting on DE&I goals and outcomes.
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Building inclusive customer experiences.
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Taking a clear stance on social justice issues aligned with company values.
Conclusion
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are cornerstones of thriving workplaces and communities. By embracing these principles, organizations unlock potential, strengthen collaboration, and foster fairness.
The responsibility to drive DE&I lies with all of us—leaders, employees, and communities—working together to build a more equitable future.
Sources:
https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/what-does-dei-mean-in-the-workplace
https://insightglobal.com/blog/why-dei-is-important/
https://coachdiversity.com/blog/secondary-dimensions-of-diversity/
https://pulsely.io/blog/why-unconscious-bias-training-is-not-for-everyone
https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/unconscious-bias-examples
https://www.wellright.com/blog/getting-past-top-5-barriers-dei-program-implementation
