Patient - Physician Race Concordance and Communication in Primary Care

Award Amount: $125,893
Approval Date: November 14, 2000
Start Date: January 1, 2001
End Date: March 31, 2002
Johns Hopkins University
2024 East Monument Street, Suite 2-515
Baltimore, Maryland 21205-2223
Principal Investigator: Lisa A. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H.

Minority patients receive fewer health services than white patients and are less satisfied with the care they do receive. Prior research into doctor-patient communication has demonstrated that patients who are treated by a physician of the same race are more satisfied with their health care than patients treated by a doctor of a different race. To identify behaviors that may explain this correlation, this project will interview same-race and different-race doctor-patient pairs and analyze audiotaped interactions during visits. Findings could be used to train physicians and educate patients in productive, two-way communication-an essential component of high-quality care. http://www.jhu.edu