Black, Hispanic and Asian physicians play an outsized role in the care of disadvantaged patients nationally. Patients who have low incomes, are from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds, have Medicaid insurance, or who do not speak English - groups that historically have difficulty in accessing medical care - are substantially more likely to receive their care from a minority physician, according to a new study appearing online in today's [Dec. 30] issue of the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
The study found that minority physicians care for 54 percent of minority patients and 70 percent of non-English-speaking patients.
Other related findings include:
Asian, Hispanic and Black patients were 19-26 times more likely to be cared for by a minority physician of their same race.
Low-income patients were 1 1/2 to 2 times more likely to be cared for by Black, Hispanic and Asian physicians.
Medicaid patients were 2 times to nearly 4 times more likely to be cared for by Black, Hispanic and Asian physicians.
Currently, African-Americans and Hispanics are substantially underrepresented in the physician workforce. Despite making up over 25 percent of the U.S. population, African-Americans and Hispanics make up less than 15 percent of the physicians.
"Patients from disadvantaged groups have substantial problems accessing care," said the lead author, Dr. Lyndonna Marrast, a physician at Cambridge Health Alliance. "The fact that minority physicians are much more likely to care for disadvantaged patients suggests that expanding the racial diversity of the physician workforce in the U.S. could be key to improving access to care."
The study, which analyzed data from a 2010 federal survey of 7,070 patients across the U.S., also showed that minority physicians were substantially more likely to care for patients with worse self-reported health status. For other measures of health, such as obesity, the picture was mixed: Black physicians were more likely, and Hispanic and Asian physicians less likely, to care for obese patients.
