The Role of Gender and Physician Specialty in Patient Experience Scores

Background: The recent literature highlights how physician and patient gender influence medical care assessment. Gender impacts Press Ganey survey results, a key measure of patient satisfaction. Methods: We analyzed 82,195 outpatient visits at Northwell Health (January 01, 2018–January 04, 2019) to assess the role of gender and gender concordance in patient ratings. Inpatient, pediatric, and geriatric encounters were excluded. Five Press Ganey Care Provider questions were reviewed, covering provider concern, shared decision-making (SDM), medication information, confidence, and likelihood of recommendation. Top box scores and abbreviated summary scores were calculated and compared by specialty, physician gender, and patient gender. Results: Male physicians received significantly higher scores in internal medicine subspecialties, primary care, and OB/GYN, whereas female physicians scored higher in surgical specialties. Female patients rated female physicians lower than male physicians in internal medicine subspecialties and OB/GYN but higher in surgical fields. Male patients showed no significant rating differences based on physician gender. Male physicians scored higher on concern, SDM, confidence, and likelihood of recommendation in nonsurgical fields, with female physicians scoring higher on surgical specialties. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that physician gender significantly impacts patient satisfaction scores, with variations by specialty. Expanding this dataset could allow a more nuanced, intersectional analysis in future research.