Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Physician–patient Racial Concordance and Disparities in Birthing Mortality for Newborns

By: Brad N. Greenwood, Rachel R. Hardeman, Laura Huang and Aaron Sojourner
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Recent work has emphasized the benefits of patient–physician concordance on clinical care outcomes for underrepresented minorities, arguing it can ameliorate outgroup biases, boost communication, and increase trust. We explore concordance in a setting where racial disparities are particularly severe: childbirth. In the United States, Black newborns die at three times the rate of White newborns. Results examining 1.8 million hospital births in the state of Florida between 1992 and 2015 suggest that newborn–physician racial concordance is associated with a significant improvement in mortality for Black infants. Results further suggest that these benefits manifest during more challenging births and in hospitals that deliver more Black babies. We find no significant improvement in maternal mortality when birthing mothers share race with their physician.

Keywords

Racial Bias; Birthing Outcomes; Concordance; Mortality; Health Care and Treatment; Race

Citation

Greenwood, Brad N., Rachel R. Hardeman, Laura Huang, and Aaron Sojourner. "Physician–patient Racial Concordance and Disparities in Birthing Mortality for Newborns." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 35 (September 1, 2020): 21194–21200.
  • Read Now

About The Author

Laura Huang

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • April 2022
    • Faculty Research

    TNL Media Group

    By: Laura Huang and Katie LaMattina
    • April 2022
    • Faculty Research

    TNL Media Group

    By: Laura Huang and Katie LaMattina
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Boba Guys

    By: Laura Huang, Katie LaMattina and Charanya Kannan
More from the Authors
  • TNL Media Group By: Laura Huang and Katie LaMattina
  • TNL Media Group By: Laura Huang and Katie LaMattina
  • Boba Guys By: Laura Huang, Katie LaMattina and Charanya Kannan
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College