Female physicians working in Veterans Affairs emergency departments ordered more diagnostic tests and admitted more patients than male physicians working in the same EDs, according to a study published July 20 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers analyzed EHR data from more than 1.5 million ED visits for chest pain, shortness of breath or abdominal pain at VA hospitals between 2011 and 2019 to compare test-ordering and admission rates of physicians practicing in the same departments.
Here are three notes on the study:
- Female physicians ordered 3% to 5% more laboratory and imaging tests, and admitted 3% to 5% more patients, than male physicians.
- The additional testing was just as likely to uncover clinically significant findings as testing ordered by male physicians, and patients admitted by female physicians were no more likely to have short inpatient stays — a marker researchers used to flag potentially unnecessary hospitalizations, according to a UCLA Health news release shared with Becker’s.
- The additional care was not associated with lower 30-day mortality rates among patients treated by female physicians, compared with those treated by male physicians.
Read the full study here.
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