Regional Coalition to End Race-Based Medicine

topic area

Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Maternal, Infant, and Child Health, Access to Care

status

Intervention phase

about

Members of the Regional Coalition— many of which are part of AHE — continue to work together to remove race “adjustments” from 15 commonly used clinical decision support tools that may adversely impact patients’ outcomes. They also collaborate on alternative best practices that do not reinforce a biological understanding of race.

Clinical guidelines and clinical decision tools help doctors determine the best way to care for their patients. Race is, in some cases, still used as one of the variables in those tools even though it is not an objective biological trait. Using race as a variable can adversely influence the care a patient receives — it can also impact their outcomes. The Regional Coalition extends the work of AHE and drives further efforts across the Philadelphia region to combat systemic racism and barriers in healthcare.

In 2024, all Coalition partners endorsed an IBX-authored public comment letter to advocate to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to remove race from KDRI. On June 17, OPTN held their Board meeting and voted to approve the proposal to refit the model by removing race.

impact

As of October 2024, the Coalition has successfully removed race-based adjustments from clinical algorithms/tools that influence decisions in kidney function, lung health, as well as ones used to determine treatment or maternal anemia and delivery outcomes.

All institutions participating in the Coalition have updated their eGFR equation to the new race-neutral equation. The use of race in the prior equation caused delayed referral to transplant waitlists for Black patients, which was corrected by the new equation.

looking ahead

The future of the Coalition will continue to show measurable impact, expanded reach, and sustainable change. We expect to see an increased adoption of race-neutral clinical tools, improved patient outcomes, and greater physician confidence in equitable care. Impact will continue to be tracked through data on hospital implementation, patient reach, and feedback from participants.

partners

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Doylestown Health, Grand View Health, Independence Blue Cross, Jefferson Health, Main Line Health, Nemours Children’s Health, Penn Medicine, Redeemer Health, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Temple Health, Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, and Virtua Health

*Not all participating partners are AHE-affiliated institutions.