Patients who have low incomes, are in a racial or ethnic minority, are on Medicaid or do not speak English are more likely to receive care from a minority physician, according to a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Minority physicians — those who are black, Hispanic or Asian — care for 54 percent of minority patients and 70 percent of patients who do not speak English, according to the study.
Additionally, patients on Medicaid are two times to nearly four times more likely to receive treatment from black, Hispanic or Asian physicians.
"Patients from disadvantaged groups have substantial problems accessing care," Lyndonna Marrast, MD, the study's lead author, said in a news release. "The fact that minority physicians are much more likely to care for disadvantaged patients suggests that expanding the racial diversity of the physician workforce in the U.S. could be key to improving access to care."
Currently, black and Hispanic physicians make up less than 15 percent of the physician workforce, while they comprise more than 25 percent of the nation's population, according to the release.
The study analyzed data from a 2010 federal survey of 7,070 patients.