Are hospital mortality and readmission rates affected by the sex of the physician or patient?

In this retrospective observational study, researchers examined Medicare claims data to determine whether the association between physician sex and hospital outcomes varied between female and male patients hospitalized with medical conditions. The findings indicate that patients have lower mortality and readmission rates when treated by female physicians, and the benefit of receiving treatments from female physicians is larger for female patients than for male patients.

• Of 458,108 female and 318,819 male patients, 142,465 (31.1%) and 97,500 (30.6%) were treated by female physicians, respectively.
• Both female and male patients had a lower patient mortality when treated by female physicians; however, the benefit of receiving care from female physicians was larger for female patients than for male patients.
• 30-day mortality rate among female patients was 8.15% when treated by female physicians vs. 8.38% when the physician was male—a clinically meaningful difference. Among male patients, mortality rates were 10.15% and 10.23% when treated by female vs. male physicians, respectively. Patterns were similar for patient readmission rates.

Source:

Miyawaki A, et al. (2024, April 23). Ann Intern Med. Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates by Physician and Patient Sex. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38648639/