I also selected this study because there are a few things it does not tell us that are critical for intervention and prevention of this horrible inequity. First, we don’t know which hospitals have the worst outcomes for African American children — that information that is anonymized in the national database used by the authors. Second, we don’t know if there are racial differences in post-operative mortality rates by type of surgery. The paper doesn’t touch on this and may also be a function of the national database used by the authors.

Knowing this information could draw greater attention to the structural drivers of inequity within these institutions and specialties. It would also equip families with vital information that may shape their willingness to undergo certain procedures and which facilities they avoid.

Anonymizing hospitals and surgical specialties may increase the reporting frequency of adverse events like post-surgical complications and deaths. But doing so also prevents direct action that could remedy the greatest offenders and can obscure the mechanisms by which structural racism is shortening people’s lives.

Rhea Boyd is a pediatrician, public health advocate and scholar. Her work focuses on the relationship between structural racism, health and inequity.