Physician-patient race-match reduces patient mortality

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Health Economics
Year: 2023
Volume: 92
Issue: C

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper assesses the impacts of physician-patient race-match, especially Black patients paired with Black physicians, on patient mortality. We draw on administrative data from Florida, linking hospital encounters from mid-2011 through 2014 to information from the Florida Physician Workforce Survey. Focusing on uninsured patients experiencing unscheduled hospital admissions who are conditionally randomly assigned to physicians, we find that physician-patient race-match for Black patients reduces the likelihood of within-hospital mortality by 0.28 percentage points, a 27 % reduction relative to the overall mortality rate. An alternative identification strategy relying on instrumental variables provides a similar finding.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jhecon:v:92:y:2023:i:c:s016762962300098x
Journal Field
Health
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-29