Requires implicit bias training for physicians.

S3896

SENATE, No. 3896

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 12, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT

District 31 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires implicit bias training for physicians.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning health care professional training and
supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� �Board of Medical Examiners�
or �board� means the State Board of Medical Examiners.

���� �Physician� means a physician
licensed pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.

���� �Implicit bias� means an
individual�s prejudice in favor of or against a person or group which manifests
itself in an unconscious manner.�

���� 2.��� Within 30 days after the
effective date of this act, the Department of Health, in consultation with the
Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, the
Department of Human Services, and the Board of Medical Examiners, shall
establish a list of approved implicit bias training programs and a protocol by
which providers of implicit bias training may seek approval of their training
programs by the Department of Health.� The implicit bias training programs
shall, at a minimum, train physicians to recognize and diminish the impact of
implicit bias in the practice of medicine, include an overview of current
research on implicit bias in the practice of medicine, and include ways to
recognize and diminish the impact of implicit bias in order to achieve better
health care outcomes.

���� 3.��� The board shall ensure
that a physician completes a minimum of two hours of implicit bias training
within two years following the effective date of this act, and a minimum of two
hours of implicit bias training every two years thereafter.

���� 4.��� The Commissioner of
Health shall adopt rules and regulations, in accordance with the
�Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are
necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.

���� 5.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires implicit
bias training for physicians biennially.

���� Under the bill, the Department
of Health (department), in consultation with the Division of Consumer Affairs
in the Department of Law and Public Safety, the Department of Human Services,
and the Board of Medical Examiners (board), is to establish a list of approved
implicit bias training programs and a protocol by which providers of implicit
bias training may seek approval of their training programs by the department.�
The implicit bias training programs are to, at a minimum, train physicians to
recognize and diminish the impact of implicit bias in the practice of medicine,
include an overview of current research on implicit bias in the practice of
medicine, and include ways to recognize and diminish the impact of implicit
bias in order to achieve better health care outcomes.

���� Under the bill, the board is
to ensure that a physician completes a minimum of two hours of implicit bias
training within two years following the effective date of this bill, and a
minimum of two hours of implicit bias training every two years thereafter.� The
bill defines �implicit bias� to mean an individual�s prejudice in favor of or
against a person or group which manifests itself in an unconscious manner.