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The Influence of Physician Race and Gender on Obstetrician–Gynecologists' Annual Incomes

From the ¹VA Outcomes Group REAP; ²VA National Center for Patient Safety; ³Senior Scholar, VA National Quality Scholars Fellowship Program; ⁴Dartmouth's Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences; ⁵Department of Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School; ⁶Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School.

OBJECTIVE: A study using 1998 data concluded that incomes of male and female obstetrician–gynecologists were essentially equivalent, after considering only differences in productivity. We examined the association between gender, race, and obstetrician–gynecologists' incomes, after correcting for productivity and other important practice and provider characteristics.

METHODS: Survey responses obtained from 1992 to 2001 from 962 actively practicing obstetrician–gynecologists and linear regression modeling were used to estimate the influence of race and gender on physicians' annual incomes after controlling for work effort, provider characteristics, and practice characteristics.

RESULTS: Compared with white male and black female obstetrician–gynecologists, black men reported seeing 5% more patient visits and working 18% more hours, while white women reported seeing 18% fewer visits and working 10% fewer annual hours. Women were more likely to be nonowner employees than men. White female obstetrician–gynecologists were less likely than the other groups to be board certified. After adjustment for work effort, provider characteristics, and practice characteristics, black men's mean reported annual income was $210,859, or $78,905 (27%) lower than that for white men (95% confidence interval [CI] $120,082 to $37,729 lower; P<.001); white women's was $242,721, or $47,043 (16%) lower (95% CI $70,127 to $23,958 lower; P<.001); and black women's was $246,355, or $43,409 (15%) lower (95% CI $92,296 to $5,478 higher, P=.08)

CONCLUSION: During the 1990s, both black race and female gender were associated with substantially lower annual incomes among obstetrician–gynecologists. These findings warrant further exploration to ensure that income differences among physicians are not unjustly driven by race or gender.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2

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				J. W. Reyes Gender Gaps in Income and Productivity of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Obstet. Gynecol., May 1, 2007; 109(5): 1031 - 1039. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]