Patients’ Beliefs About Racism, Preferences for Physician Race, and Satisfaction With Care

The Article in Brief

Latino and black patients who perceive racism in the health care system prefer and are more satisfied with physicians from the same race or ethnicity. Analyzing a national survey of more than 3,800 blacks, Latinos, and whites, Chen and colleagues find that nearly one quarter of blacks and one third of Latinos prefer that their personal physician is of their same race or ethnicity. In turn, those patients who have racial preferences for their physicians are more likely to rate their physician highly if the physician is of the same race. Blacks who prefer a black physician and have a black physician are nearly 3 times as likely to rate their physician as excellent than are blacks who prefer a black physician and have a nonblack physician (57% vs 20%). Though not statistically significant, Latinos who prefer and have a Latino physician rate their physician higher than Latinos who prefer a Latino physician but have a non-Latino physician (40% vs 29%). These results suggest that addressing discrimination in the health care system, increasing access to minority physicians, and improving the ways patients can choose physicians may be effective ways to reduce inequalities in health care.