Impact of Physician Practice Racial Composition on Patient Demographics.

Area of Science:

• Health Disparities
• Medical Practice Demographics
• Racial Equity in Healthcare

Background:

• Addressing health disparities for Black patients is essential in the U.S.
• Physician practice racial composition impacts patient demographics.
• Gynecology practices are a key area for improving care for Black women.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of adding Black physicians to a gynecology practice.
• To determine if practice racial composition influences patient demographics.
• To test the hypothesis that increased Black physician presence leads to more Black patients.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study comparing three gynecology practices.
• Practice A added Black physicians; Practices B and C did not.
• Analyzed patient race, insurance status, and area deprivation index (ADI) over time.

Main Results:

• Practice A showed a significant increase in Black patients.
• Practices B and C saw a decrease or flat trend in Black patients.
• Non-Black physicians in Practice A also saw an increasing proportion of Black patients.

Conclusions:

• Adding Black physicians increases the proportion of Black patients in a practice.
• This change benefits both Black and non-Black physicians within the practice.
• Findings support diversifying physician staff to improve health equity.