Do Women Make Better Doctors?

A new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine shows that women may make better doctors than men, at least some of the time. Led by Harvard professor Dr. Ashish Jha, researchers analyzed the outcomes of almost 1.5 million hospitalizations over four years, using data from Medicare. Specifically, they looked at two measures: 30-day mortality (how many patients died within 30 days of entering the hospital) and 30-day readmission rates. The results showed that elderly patients were less likely to die or come right back to the hospital when a female doctor cared for them.

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Numerically, the variation in patient outcomes was not large. Thirty-day mortality, for example, was 10.82 percent for patients treated by females and 11.49 percent for patients treated by males. Similarly, readmission rates were 15.01 percent versus 15.57 percent for patients treated by females versus males.

Adjust those numbers across the entire Medicare-eligible population, however, and the impact could be huge. “If male physicians achieved the same outcomes as female physicians, that would lead to about 32,000 fewer deaths every year. That’s about the number of people who die in motor vehicle accidents annually,” Dr. Jha said.

Why Are Women Better Doctors? 

The Harvard researchers did not look at what female doctors do differently that gives their patients an edge. However, prior research shows that female doctors in the primary care setting are more likely to follow clinical guidelines and practice evidence-based medicine than their male counterparts. They are also better communicators and tend to take fewer risks.

What’s more, this measured approach seems to pay off for outpatients as well. According to one study, patients treated by female doctors take fewer trips to the emergency room and are hospitalized less frequently than those cared for by males. In fact, patients who’ve been treated by a woman seem to have better outcomes across the entire spectrum of medical care.

Nevertheless, no matter what their specialty, women are typically paid less and promoted less often than men. But that may change as hospitals become more discerning about the quality of care they provide. As Dr. Jha explains, this is the first study that definitively says, “No, no, despite that backdrop of lower salaries and less academic promotion, we’re finding that not only are women physicians just as good…we’re finding that they’re a little bit better” doctors overall.