Doctors measure your health in a variety of ways, from routine blood tests to check cholesterol and kidney function to devices such as spirometers to test lung function and pulse oximeters to test blood oxygen levels. Masu. However, the results of these routine tests can be misleading because some tests and devices are skewed by algorithms that produce different results depending on a person’s race or ethnicity. Some devices don’t work well on people with darker skin.
These biases can lead to delays in diagnosis and care for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and other communities of color. Clinicians, regulators, and researchers are currently working to address the inequalities caused by racial abuse.
This webinar addressed the rapidly changing and complex space of racial disparities in algorithms and devices. AHCJ Citizen Science Fellow Jyoti Madhusudhanan and AHCJ Health IT Beat Leader Karen Bloom discuss how these algorithms and devices work, how bias creeps in, the toll it takes, and how this… He talked about his efforts to solve the problem.
A panelist for this discussion was University of Michigan pulmonologist Michael Schoeding, who provided evidence to the FDA advisory committee about how racial bias in pulse oximetry puts Black patients at risk. Shazia Siddique, a gastroenterologist at the University of Pennsylvania, recently led an AHRQ-funded systematic review of clinical algorithms and racial disparities.
Karen Blum
AHCJ Health IT Beat Leader
Karen Blum is the Health Beat Leader for AHCJ’s Health IT Department. She is an independent health science journalist based in the Baltimore area. She has contributed to publications such as the Baltimore Sun, Pharmacy Practice News, Clinical Oncology News, Clinical Laboratory News, Cancer Today, CURE, AARP.org, General Surgery News and infection Special Edition. Covered numerous medical conferences for industry magazines and news agencies. He has written numerous profiles and articles on medical and scientific research, as well as trends in healthcare and health IT. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and chairs its Virtual Education Committee. He is also a member of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) and its Freelance Committee.
Jyoti Madhusudhanan
Doris Duke Racial Equity in the Clinical Equation Civic Science Fellow
Jyoti Madhusudhanan is a citizen science fellow at AHCJ and is focusing on race in health algorithms as part of a one-year fellowship funded by the Doris Duke Foundation. She is an independent science and health journalist who regularly covers biomedical research, health equity, clinical trials, and the translation of basic research into clinical care. Her report on racial adjustments in clinical algorithms was supported by a 2020 Project Fellowship from the MIT Knight Science Journalism Program. Reporting on other topics has received fellowship support from the Alicia Patterson Foundation, the GSA Aging Journalists Program, and others. Madhusoodanan is a senior contributor to Undark magazine, and her work appears regularly in Nature, Scientific American, and other outlets. She also serves on the board of the National Science Writers Association.
Shazia Siddique, MD, MSHP
Gastroenterologist and health policy researcher, University of Pennsylvania
Shazia Siddique, MD, MSHP is an assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Gastroenterology. Associate Director of Research, Center for Evidence-Based Practice. Director of Research at the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Safety (CHIPS). Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
Siddique is a physician-scientist with expertise in health services research and health equity. She currently serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Gastroenterology, a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, and a senior fellow at the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Schoding, MD, MSc
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan
Dr. Schoeding received his medical degree from Loyola University Chicago. She completed a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Michigan and earned a master’s degree in health care research. His research focuses on developing new digital tools to improve hospital care for patients with acute respiratory illnesses.
