Male or female physician: Does it matter in death, hospital readmission rates?

[WhiteTara]

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-12/tjnj-mof121516.php

Do hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries treated by female internists have lower rates of 30-day mortality and hospital readmission than those patients treated by men? A new study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that they do.

Previous research suggests men and women may practice medicine differently, with female physicians more likely to adhere to clinical guidelines and provide preventive care more often, among other things. However, some have suggested that factors such as career interruptions for childbearing and high-rates of part-time employment, may justify higher salaries for male physicians, despite research suggesting female physicians may provide better care.

Empirical evidence is needed so Yusuke Tsugawa, M.D., M.P.H., PhD., of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, and coauthors examined 30-day mortality and readmission rates for hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries treated by male or female physicians.

The study analyzed more than 1.5 million patient hospitalizations for 30-day mortality rates and more than 1.5 million for hospital readmission rates from 2011 through 2014. During the study period, 58,344 internists treated at least one hospitalized Medicare beneficiary and, among those physicians, 18,751 were women (32.1 percent). Female physicians tended to be younger, were more likely to have had osteopathic training and treated fewer patients compared with their male counterparts.

But funny how women doctors are paid less than their male counterparts.

[niyad]

1. k and r for this very interesting article.

of course women are paid less--it isn't like they got the same training, or needed the same qualifications, or. . . . . .

misogyny continues rampant, as we wait for all the "splainers" in . . . 3. . . . . 2 . . . . . 1 . . .

[Staph]

3. As my bro-in-law (the retired surgeon) says,

What do you call the person who came in last in the medical school graduating class?







Doctor!


My bro-in-law is on the conservative side of Independent, but even he says a doctor is a doctor, no matter the gender or race or whatever. Misogyny reigns, indeed!

[Hoyt]

2. I don't doubt that's true when women are employed by a group or hospital. However the insurance

company pays a male or female the same for each service.