Doctors Use Problematic Race-Based Algorithms Every Day

EVEN IN THE NORTH –

Sept. 3, 2024 – As she went down the list, one of the factors tripped her up every time: Was the child Black? If not, add a point. The more points, the higher the risk of a UTI, which meant the child would get follow up testing. How could it be that the color of a child’s skin dictated their care? “It always rubbed me the wrong way,” said Epee-Bounya, whose mother was from France and father is from Cameroon. She considers herself mixed race, but “in this country — I came when I was 16 — I learned that I was Black,” she said. How would a doctor categorize her, or her children, she wondered?

Her frustration boiled over in the spring of 2019. In a hurried moment between appointments, she shared her concerns with a colleague in the hallway. “I don’t understand this ‘Black race’ characteristic,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

That conversation would lead Boston Children’s to remove or modify the use of race, ethnicity, or ancestry from eight such algorithms used to guide physicians’ decisions about patient care, including for UTI.