2025 Encoding Health Equity Summit - Building Community Strategies-Building Community Strategies

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The conference discussed strategies for addressing race-based medical practices, focusing on transitioning to race-neutral clinical tools. Dr. Sean Ross introduced the session, emphasizing the need for bridging academic research and real-world practice to eliminate outdated practices that perpetuate systemic biases in healthcare. Dr. Cheryl Conner from the Chicago Coalition for Anti-Racism in Healthcare shared insights on advocating for race-neutral algorithms, such as EGFR, and emphasized collective, interdisciplinary efforts. Dr. Toni Esselin from the New York City Health Department discussed the Coalition to End Racism in Clinical Algorithms (CERCA), highlighting its success in removing race adjustment in clinical practices. She underscored the importance of naming racism and continuing the work despite challenges. Dr. Ricky Grissin and Dr. Ijeoma Nnodim Opara addressed the need for sustained student involvement and community partnership in anti-racist healthcare initiatives. The Detroit Task Force and the Canada-US Coalition are pursuing similar goals, focusing on transformative healthcare ideologies and integration of community voices. The PFT subcommittee, part of CERCA, shared experiences of transitioning to race-neutral PFT testing in New York City hospitals, noting barriers like institutional inertia and the importance of collaboration. Dr. Sean Ross presented a framework for systemic change, emphasizing interdisciplinary stakeholder engagement and the importance of aligning strategic goals with institutional capacities to facilitate effective and scalable transitions away from race-based medical practices.

Keywords

race-neutral clinical tools

systemic biases

healthcare

race-neutral algorithms

EGFR

interdisciplinary efforts

CERCA

clinical algorithms

anti-racist healthcare

community partnership

transformative healthcare

systemic change