Algorithm Failures in Ethics and Equity at Stanford

Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. Today we consider how badly Stanford University Health Systems botched it decision on whom in the organization would receive its allotted Covid-19 vaccinations. Stanford used a faulty algorithm which mandated that only seven of the Health Systems 1300 medical residents would receive the vaccine. As you might guess these front-line health workers were up in arms over Stanford’s incompetence on this issue. Some of the issues we consider are: The plan had been for the algorithm to assign vaccination slots for the first 5,000 employees, who would begin receiving the Covid vaccine on Dec. 18. What were the parameters of the algorithm? Why was there so little ethics in the process? Why was there so little equity in the result? What are the implications for the compliance professional of the use of the algorithm to make such a critical decision? What does the EEOC decision allowing companies to mandate vaccines for employees mean for compliance? Resources For more information see Matt’s blog post in Radical Compliance: Lessons on Algorithms, Ethics and Equity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices