Female Physicians Linked to Lower Hospital Mortality
A study of nearly one million hospitalized medical patients links care by female doctors to lower 30-day death rates.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Women’s Health
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A study published October 30 in JAMA Network Open found that hospitalized patients treated by female physicians had lower 30-day mortality than those treated by male physicians. The analysis, led by Angela Jerath of the University of Toronto, covered 958,150 medical patients admitted between 2008 and 2022.
Why it matters
The findings add to growing research on physician sex and patient outcomes, suggesting differences in care that could inform hospital staffing and practice. The associations were observed across a large patient population but do not by themselves establish cause.
The study analyzed 958,150 patients, with 259,759 treated by female physicians and 698,391 by male physicians, across seven common diagnoses. Readmission rates were 18.6 percent versus 18.9 percent, a difference the authors describe only as a trend, and it remains unclear which specific practice patterns drive the association.
The players
Angela Jerath
Jerath is the lead researcher of the study and a researcher at the University of Toronto focused on patient outcomes in hospital medicine.
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Canada, and it is the institution affiliated with the study's lead researcher.
The details
Patients admitted for medical conditions are generally assigned physicians through rotating schedules, which allowed researchers to compare outcomes across physician sex. Physician sex was assessed both by the sex of the most responsible physician and by the share of in-hospital days managed by a female physician, and a greater share of such days was associated with lower 30-day mortality (aOR 0.93).
Timeline
Admissions analyzed span 2008 to 2022.
The study was published online October 30 in JAMA Network Open.
HealthDay reported on the study November 5.
Health Landscape
The study adds to a growing body of research examining whether physician sex is associated with patient outcomes, a line of inquiry that has gained attention in recent years. Its large sample of nearly one million admissions gives it weight within that literature, though observational designs leave open questions about causation.
For patients, the findings suggest that the sex of the treating physician may be associated with differences in short-term survival, though the effect size is modest. Patients who want to understand how their own care is organized can ask hospital staff how physician assignments are made during an admission.
The takeaway
Patients do not need to choose their physician based on sex, but the study underscores how hospital care patterns may matter for outcomes. Readers can stay informed by following peer-reviewed research as further studies test these associations.
Further reading
Explore more in Women’s Health coverage of physician-sex research and patient outcomes.
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Would you feel more confident in hospital care from a female doctor?
