Assessment of dermatologist–patient gender concordance among medicare beneficiaries

Abstract

Objectives Physician–patient gender concordance has been linked to more effective patient communication and preventative care screening in the primary care setting. We sought to characterize physician–patient gender concordance among dermatologists based on dermatologist practice setting and characteristics as well as compare these rates to those in other physician specialties. Materials and Methods Retrospective, cross-sectional review of the 2017 Medicare Physician and Other Supplier Public Use File. Results In the Medicare population, the mean gender concordance rates among male (52.7) and female (59.9) dermatologists were greater than the overall prevalence of male (46.7) and female (53.3) dermatology beneficiaries (p < .0001). Female concordance rates were higher among dermatologists with an increased frequency of beneficiary visits (62.0 vs. 54.0, p < .0001), while gender concordance rates for male dermatologists were higher than those for all other assessed specialties (52.7 vs. 38.3–46.0, all p < .0001). Conclusions Male and female dermatologists experienced high degrees of physician–beneficiary gender concordance across various practice settings in the Medicare population, especially when compared to other specialties. Reasons for the observed gender concordance and potential implications for dermatologic care merit further investigation.

Keywords

• gender
• gender concordance
• patient care
• practice features
• dermatology
• medicare
• beneficiaries
• cms