Racial bias in health care software aids whites over blacks

A new study finds a widely used software program that helps guide care for millions of patients is flawed by unintentional racial bias.
The software predicts costs rather than sickness. It is used by U.S. insurers and hospitals to direct higher-cost patients into health care programs designed to help them stay on medications or out of the hospital.
Whites tend to be higher-cost patients even when they’re not as sick as blacks. The study found the software regularly suggested letting health