How Do the Gender and Race/Ethnicity of Healthcare Providers Impact Quality of Care and Health Disparities?

Overwhelming evidence from previous studies shows that racial and ethnic minorities experience worse health outcomes and poorer quality of care compared to white Americans, even when factors such as income, education, and insurance are controlled. Many factors contribute to health disparities, including the influence of the health system, as well as bias, stereotyping, and clinical uncertainty on the part of healthcare providers. As a result, recent interest has been directed to better understanding if patient-provider gender and race-concordance may lead to improved health outcomes for minority patients. This particular study is part of a much larger study focusing on low-income African American men with multiple chronic conditions who also tend to suffer from disproportionate rates of morbidity and mortality related to their illnesses. This health inequity is often further exasperated by social factors related to discrimination and systemic racism. A mixed method approach will be utilized to gather qualitative (interview) and quantitative (survey and medical records) data from both low-income African American men with multiple chronic conditions and their healthcare providers. Data will be analyzed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors around healthcare quality differences experienced by low-income African American men with multiple chronic conditions as expressed by healthcare providers of different genders and races/ethnicities. Moreover, we will also investigate patients’ preference, satisfaction and communication pertaining to healthcare providers’ gender, race and ethnicity, including people who look like them or share similar language or culture. Overall, we aim to improve our understanding of if, why and how patient-provider gender and race-concordance influence minority patients’ experiences, the healthcare process, and outcomes