Patient-Physician Race Concordance, Physician Decisions, and Patient Outcomes

Abstract

Using administrative data from a large and diverse emergency department (ED), we examine the impact of race concordance between patients and physicians on physician decisionmaking and patient health outcomes. We find that patient-physician race concordance increases consultation time and decreases the probability of inpatient admission and diagnostic testing. Subsequently, race-concordant patients have lower revisit rates after ED discharge. The effect of race concordance is largely driven by patients who had less serious illnesses and whose diseases had nonspecific symptoms or less clear causes. The results are best explained by the informational and communication mechanism.