Greetings—

When patients of color have access to a racially concordant provider—one who shares their race or ethnicity—research shows they have better health outcomes and improved trust and satisfaction with their providers. However, racial and ethnic groups who are deeply affected by health inequities are severely underrepresented in the health care provider workforce, in part due to steep barriers that minoritized students face when accessing higher education institutions and training.

New Urban Institute research highlights the extent to which adults have, can find, and prefer racially concordant health care providers and identifies strategies to promote diversity in the healthcare workforce.

Key takeaways include:

Black adults were over four times more likely (32 percent) than white adults (7 percent) to report preferring a racially concordant provider. Adults who are Asian, Hispanic, and of additional races reported preferring a racially concordant provider at rates higher than white adults (20 percent, 29 percent, and 12 percent compared with 7 percent).
White adults were over four times more likely (76 percent) than Black adults (18 percent) to report having a racially concordant provider. Asian adults (28 percent), Hispanic adults (38 percent), and adults of additional races (37 percent) were less likely than white adults to be racially concordant with their providers.
Nonwhite adults had a harder time finding a racially concordant provider than white adults.
Adults who anticipated future unfair treatment in health care settings were much more likely than other adults to prefer a racially concordant provider.

You may also be interested in an upcoming discussion this Friday, March 21st that will explore evidence and legal strategies for building physician diversity hosted by Urban and Georgetown Law as part of their series on health justice.