Treatment by women doctors leads to lower death rates and fewer hospital readmissions, study shows

All over the world, medical students who are women comprise nearly half of all those studying in medical schools after centuries when men were the vast majority in the profession, especially those in the most senior positions.

This development is good news for a variety of reasons, including a new discovery from the University of California at Los Angeles that patients have lower rates of mortality and hospital readmissions when treated by female physicians, with female patients benefitting more than their male counterparts, new research suggests.

The researchers found that the mortality rate for female patients was 8.15% when treated by female physicians compared to 8.38% when the physician was male – a clinically significant difference. While the difference for male patients was smaller, female physicians still had the edge with a 10.15% mortality rate compared with male doctors’ 10.23% rate. The team found the same pattern for hospital readmission rates.

The study has just been published in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Internal Medicine under the title “Being treated by a female physician associated with lower risk for death.” 

Patient outcomes should not differ between male and female physicians if they practice medicine the same way, said internal medicine Prof. Yusuke Tsugawa at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and the study’s senior author – who also happens to be a man. 

“What our findings indicate is that female and male physicians practice medicine differently, and these differences have a meaningful impact on patients' health outcomes,” Tsugawa said. “Further research on the underlying mechanisms linking physician gender with patient outcomes, and why the benefit of receiving the treatment from female physicians is larger for female patients, has the potential to improve patient outcomes across the board.”

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

What are the factors driving the differences?

There may be several factors driving these differences, the researchers wrote. They suggest that male doctors might underestimate the severity of their female patients’ illness – prior research has noted that male doctors underestimate their female patients’ pain levels, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular symptoms, and stroke risk, which could lead to delayed or incomplete care. Female doctors may also communicate better with their female patients, making it likelier that these patients provide important information leading to better diagnoses and treatment. Finally, female patients may be more comfortable with receiving sensitive examinations and engaging in detailed conversations with female physicians.

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

In addition, gender gaps in physician salaries must be eliminated, he said. “It is important to note that female physicians provide high-quality care, and therefore, having more female doctors benefits patients from a societal point-of-view,” Tsugawa concluded.