The impact of physician gender on patient satisfaction in an academic hematology/oncology practice.

Abstract

11022 Background: Gender disparities continue to remain under addressed in medicine. While prevalent in many forms, patient bias and perceptions toward their healthcare team can impact patient compliance and care. Health systems often gauge patient satisfaction with physicians and post these ratings online. It is possible that gender biases affect patient satisfaction scores and evaluations. Here, we assess the impact of physician gender on patient satisfaction scores and comments in an academic hematology/oncology practice. Methods: A retrospective mixed-method analysis was conducted from patient satisfaction scores and comments obtained between January and June of 2021. Patients were asked a series of three questions about their care. Patients’ response to the question, “How likely would you be to recommend this providers office to friends and family?”, was analyzed on a score of 0-10, with 10 being extremely likely and 0 being not at all likely. Patients were then asked for the primary reason for their scoring, in an open-ended format. Mixed-gender codified data was quantified from de-identified, de-gendered patient comments. To identify the differences in patient perception between male and female physicians, we specifically examined the data of positive and negative impressions of variables including professional behaviors, expertise, kindness, compassion, and interactions with ancillary staff amongst providers. Results: Patient satisfaction scores from 199 unique patients were reviewed; 140 (70.4%) were about male-identifying physicians while 59 (29.6%) were related to female-identifying physicians. The mean satisfaction score was 9.95 ± 0.29 for female physicians and 9.64 ± 1.38 for male physicians (p = 0.011). Of patients responding, 76 (38%) were male and 123 (63%) were female. Female physicians scored higher than male physicians for both male and female patients (10.0 ± 0 versus 9.65 ± 1.37 (p = 0.011) and 9.77 ± 0.60 versus 9.62 ± 1.40 (p = 0.011), respectively). Kindness and compassion were mentioned in 36% and 42% of all female physician scores, respectively, and in 29% and 33% of all male physician scores; these did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.587 and p = 0.257). 21% of all male physician scores positively mentioned physician expertise, compared to 15% of female physician scores; this also did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.434). Conclusions: Female physicians had a higher mean satisfaction score in patient evaluations than their male counterparts by both male and female patients. Numerically, more patient comments about female physicians mentioned kindness or compassion, while fewer mentioned expertise. This early work will be expanded to a larger dataset of evaluations in addition to further exploration of how female and male oncology providers are perceived by patients in multiple other categories.