Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review

Abstract

There is emerging interest in understanding group decision making among a team of health professionals. Groupthink, a term coined by Irving Janis to depict premature consensus seeking in highly cohesive groups, is a theory that has been widely discussed in disciplines outside health care. However, it remains unclear how it has been conceptualized, studied, and mitigated in the context of health professionals conducting patient care. This scoping review aimed to examine the conceptualization of groupthink in health care, empirical research conducted in healthcare teams, and recommendations to avoid groupthink. Eight databases were systematically searched for articles focusing on groupthink among health professional teams using a scoping review methodology. A total of 22 articles were included—most were commentaries or narrative reviews with only four empirical research studies. This review found that focus on groupthink and group decision making in medicine is relatively new and growing in interest. Few empirical studies on groupthink in health professional teams have been performed and there is conceptual disagreement on how to interpret groupthink in the context of clinical practice. Future research should develop a theoretical framework that applies groupthink theory to clinical decision making and medical education, validate the groupthink framework in clinical settings, develop measures of groupthink, evaluate interventions that mitigate groupthink in clinical practice, and examine how groupthink may be situated amidst other emerging social cognitive theories of collaborative clinical decision making.

Keywords:

• Groupthink
• errors
• group decision making
• healthcare team
• scoping review

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Disclaimer

The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Defense or other federal agencies.

Glossary

Groupthink: A theory that describes when highly cohesive groups exhibit premature consensus seeking that leads to poor decision making.

Systematic bias: A pattern of deviation from rational judgment and decision making that may affect individuals or teams.

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Choi was supported by the NIH/NCATS under Grant #KL2-TR-002385, and has received research support and consulting fees from Roche Diagnostics and Allergan for work unrelated to this manuscript.

Notes on contributors

Karissa DiPierro

Karissa DiPierro is an undergraduate student at Cornell University concentrating in Microbiology. She is expected to obtain her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences in May of 2022.

Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee, BA, MSt, MPhil, is a research associate in the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, NY. She is currently pursuing studies in a post-baccalaureate premedical program.

Kevin J. Pain

Kevin J. Pain, BA, is an Information and Library Research Specialist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, NY.

Steven J. Durning

Steven J. Durning, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD, and is the Director of Graduate Programs in Health Professions Education.

Justin J. Choi

Justin J. Choi, MD, MSc, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, NY.