IU Kelley School prof: Doctors should rely less on ‘mental shortcuts’ when deciding patient care
Indiana UniversityAlgorithms and analytics are now common used by professional sports, in sales forecasts, lending decisions and by car insurance providers. Managers and other decision makers no longer simply “go with their gut.” But doctors often remain reluctant to introduce such information when making medical decisions for patients. In an article published in Science, Helen Colby, an assistant professor of marketing at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis, and a co-author note that it is time for many doctors to stop relying on their use of mental shortcuts, usually called decision rules or heuristics, when making decisions about patient care with limited cognitive resources.