Pulse oximeter readings are used routinely and help inform doctors in shaping medical care for any number of illnesses, including heart failure, sleep apnea and respiratory conditions. If the readings are falsely high, patients may look fine on paper — but they may not get the level of care they need. Black patients were found to be nearly 50 percent more likely than white patients to have their condition go undetected. Hispanic patients were 18 percent more likely than white patients to have an unrecognized need. Patients with unrecognized needs, regardless of race, experienced delays of roughly an hour that translated into a 10 percent higher risk of delayed Covid treatment.

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Persons: “, ”, Ashraf Fawzy, Johns Hopkins, Fawzy Organizations: Drug Administration