193 - Understanding the Importance of Race-Concordance between Pediatric Primary Care Providers and Patients and Associations with Patient Care Experiences

Publication Number: 193.6887

Bako Orionzi, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Marie E. Heffernan, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Ashley Keese, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Kristin Kan, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Background: Children from minoritized racial and ethnic groups receive poorer treatment across pediatrics, including primary care, suggesting families may experience unsatisfactory healthcare. Provider-patient race-concordance, defined as when the race of a health provider matches the race of the patient, could be an important factor in improving this treatment disparity. Little is known about parents' attitudes towards provider-patient race-concordance and whether it shapes their experiences with their child's primary care provider (PCP).

Objective: To characterize the importance of provider-patient race-concordance to parents and the association between race-concordance and patient communication metrics in primary care

Design/Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from September 6-October 7, 2024 through a panel survey of Illinois parents. Parents were eligible if they had a child between 0-17 years old. Survey was administered online and by phone, allowing participants to complete it in English or Spanish. Types of race-concordance were defined by whether the participant felt their provider was of the same race or ethnicity as their child, themselves, or other primary caregiver. Dependent variables included the importance of race-concordance and items on good provider-patient communication (e.g, being treated with courtesy/respect). Logistic regression of the importance of race-concordance was modeled with key participant characteristics and of metrics of provider-patient communication and types of race-concordance.

Results: Among the 1078 parent respondents, 57.4% were of Non-Hispanic (NH) White race, and 54.6% were female. (Table 1) For those reporting race-concordance with their provider and their child, themselves, or the other caregiver, respondents were 2.5-3.7 times more likely to report it was important to have race-concordance with their child’s PCP, compared to those without race-concordance. (Table 2) NH Black parents were 4.7 times more likely to report it was important to have race-concordance with their child’s PCP, when compared to NH White parents. Parents were 2.5 times more likely to report their PCP treated them with respect when there was PCP-child race-concordance. (Table 3)

Conclusion(s): There is compelling evidence that provider-patient race-concordance is important to families, especially those of minoritized racial backgrounds, and is associated with improving some aspects of the patient experience. This highlights that racial-ethnic diversity in the provider workforce may be an important factor for reducing health disparities.

Table 1. Characteristics of Survey Sample (n=1078)


Table 2. Unadjusted Odds Ratio of Importance of Race-Concordance between Primary Care Provider and Child, Parent, or Other Primary Caregiver, by Parent-reported Characteristics


Table 3. Unadjusted Odds Ratio of Good Provider-Patient Communication and Race-Concordance between Primary Care Provider and Child, Parent, or Other Primary Caregiver