August 17, 2023- In concert with guidelines provided by the National Kidney Foundation and the American College of Nephrology, CommonSpirit Health has removed race-based algorithms in lab testing for chronic kidney disease.
The launch of the new algorithms marks a significant step towards removing barriers to care that have disproportionately impacted Black, Hispanic and Native Americans, who are more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage because their kidney health has been measured differently.
The previous eGFR equation included age, sex, race and/or body weight; however, recent studies have suggested that there is no scientific basis for including race in the algorithm. In fact, doing so can result in care delays and poorer clinical outcomes for Black, Hispanic and Native Americans.
The eGFR algorithm change was accomplished as a partnership between the Physician Enterprise, lab information services, medical informatics, as well as the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.