Female physicians can provide better patient outcomes

Female physicians can provide better patient outcomes

New research suggests that patients have lower mortality rates and fewer readmissions to hospital when treated by female doctors, with female patients benefiting more than their male counterparts.

The mortality rate for female patients was 8.15% when they were treated by female doctors, versus 8.38% when the doctor was male - a clinically significant difference, the researchers found. While the difference was smaller for male patients, female doctors still came out on top with a mortality rate of 10.15% compared to 10.23% for male doctors.

The researchers found the same pattern in hospital readmission rates.

The study will be published in the peer-reviewed journalAnnals of Internal Medicine.

Patient outcomes should not differ between male and female physicians if they practice medicine in the same way, Dr. Yusuke Tsugawa, associate professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and senior author of the study.

Our results suggest that female and male physicians practice medicine differently and these differences have a significant impact on patient health outcomes. Further research into the underlying mechanisms linking physician gender to patient outcomes and why the benefit of treatment by female physicians is greater for female patients has the potential to improve overall patient outcomes.”

Dr. Yusuke Tsugawa, Associate Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences

Researchers examined Medicare claims data from 2016 to 2019 for about 458,100 female and nearly 319,800 male patients. Of these, 142,500 and 97,500, or around 31% each, were treated by female doctors. The primary endpoints were 30-day mortality from the date of hospital admission and 30-day readmission from the date of discharge.

Several factors could be responsible for these differences, the researchers write. They suggest that male doctors may be underestimating the severity of their patients' illness - previous research has shown that male doctors underestimate their patients' pain levels, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular symptoms, and stroke risk, which could lead to delayed or incomplete care. Additionally, female doctors may communicate better with their patients, making it more likely that these patients will provide important information that leads to better diagnoses and treatments. Finally, patients may feel more comfortable receiving sensitive examinations and having detailed discussions with female doctors.

However, more research is needed into how and why male and female doctors practice medicine differently and what impact this has on patient care, Tsugawa said. “A better understanding of this issue could lead to the development of interventions that effectively improve patient care,” he said.

Additionally, gender disparities in physician pay should be eliminated, he said. “It is important to note that female doctors provide high-quality care and therefore, from a societal perspective, having more female doctors will benefit patients,” Tsugawa said.

Co-authors of the study are Dr. Atsushi Miyawaki from the University of Tokyo, Dr. Anupam Jena from Harvard University and Dr. Lisa Rotenstein from UC San Francisco.

Sources: