There does not appear to be a link between physician gender and patient-care costs or mortality, according to a study conducted by researchers at UC Davis Health System.
Though earlier studies suggested that the communication styles and related behaviors often associated with female physicians may lower their patients' use of services and healthcare costs, the UC Davis study demonstrated otherwise.
For the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine's March-April issue, researchers evaluated responses provided by 21,365 patients aged 18 and older between the years 2002 and 2008 as part of the U.S. Medical Expenditure Panel Survey project. Their determination was that the genders of respondents' usual healthcare providers did not have an impact on the cost of their healthcare or prescription drugs; deaths; or frequency of hospital, emergency room or medical office visits.