Boston Children’s Hospital has decided to stop using race and ethnicity in its medical rules. They want to make sure that all patients are treated fairly, no matter what their race or ethnicity is.
The hospital looked at over 1,500 rules and found that race and ethnicity were mentioned in about 5% of them. But there wasn’t always a good reason for using race or ethnicity in these rules.
Dr. Valerie Ward, who makes sure everyone is treated equally at the hospital, led the review. She found that race was often used instead of looking at things like genes or how much money a person has. But race isn’t a good way to describe differences between groups of people.
The review also found that some groups of people, like Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native people, weren’t included enough in the studies used to make the rules. This means that the rules might not work as well for everyone.
In the United States, some groups of people have more health problems than others. For example, Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native people are more likely to get sick, die younger, and have worse health than white people. This is because of many things, like how much money they have, if they can see a doctor, and if they experience racism.
By not using race in its rules anymore, Boston Children’s Hospital wants to take better care of all patients, no matter what their race or ethnicity is. The hospital will keep looking at its rules to make sure they are fair for everyone.
See “Revisiting race and ethnicity in clinical guidelines” by Nancy Fliesler on the Boston Children’s Hospital website (February 5, 2024)
