Experts explain how to eliminate race-based algorithms to improve care

Reevaluating diagnosis and treatment algorithms that harm patients by incorrectly using race as a factor can reduce health disparities, says Tanise Branche, MD. Branche, a Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine assistant professor, says her department eliminated a policy requiring Black patients to have lower hemoglobin numbers compared with white patients to receive treatment for anemia. The policy caused more Black patients to experience postpartum hemorrhage and need blood transfusions. It also eliminated race as a factor in the calculator it used to determine whether patients could have a vaginal birth after Cesarean section, since Black and Hispanic patients were less likely to receive approval. After the change, more Black and Hispanic patients qualified for VBACs, resulting in improved outcomes. (MedPage Today article, 5/9/25)