Black History Month: New York City doctors trying to advance health equity, eliminate race-adjustment algorithms
NEW YORK -- On this final day of Black History Month, CBS2 has a story about confronting racism in health care.
It's something New York City's Board of Health declared a crisis. From there, a group was formed to advance health equity.
Reporter Alice Gainer has more on what the medical professionals are aiming to do.
This past fall, the city Department of Health launched CERCA, which stands for Coalition to End Racism in Clinical Algorithms.
Gainer recently spoke with several doctors involved who explain the practice and why it's so harmful.
Clinicians use race-adjustment algorithms to guide decision-making in medical care, but CERCA group members say race adjustments have been based on false, racist beliefs about human biology.
"There's a growing body of research showing the harm from this practice, and even though this is what we were taught in medical school, for many of us, and we were taught this was the best practice. What is clear is it is harming people of color in their access to care," said Dr. Michelle Morse, the Department of Health's deputy commissioner and chief medical officer.
As an example, she said, "To this day, when we do spirometry tests -- that's a test to measure how lung function is working -- we actually correct it immediately for Black race, Latinx race and Asian race in a way that makes those races' lung functions look healthier, even though it probably isn't."
Another example they point to is kidney function. The doctors say Black kidney function levels are calculated to be healthier than white patients for the same measured result. This can lead to delayed care. Doctors explained using the example of a biracial patient.
"So if they put that they were Black on an intake form, their kidney function would be calculated one way. If they put white, their kidney function would be calculated another way. You would have a different result. So the same patient would have a different result based on whether or not they put Black or white on their intake form," said Dr. Nichola Davis, vice president and chief population officer for NYC Health + Hospitals. "The person is the same biologically. There's absolutely no reason why the result that they get should be different based on whether or not they check they were Black or white."
The group consisting of 12 national experts in racial inequalities research and local major health institutions will meet bi-monthly for two years. They have three steps: ending the practice, evaluating the impact it has had, and developing a patient engagement plan to make sure those affected get the care they deserve.
They're expected to give their first annual report this June.