Yet Another Review Finds Racial Concordance Fails to Improve Health Outcomes

Prominent medical associations have long promoted the theory that racial concordance – when a patient is treated by a physician of the same racial group – leads to improved health outcomes. Proponents of this theory have used it to advocate for initiatives aimed at increasing racial diversity in the physician pool.

However, as Do No Harm demonstrated in our report “Racial Concordance in Medicine: The Return of Segregation,” this theory is bunk. Four out of five existing systematic reviews of racial concordance in medicine found no improvement in health outcomes, and the fifth is fraught with methodological problems. 

Now, there’s even more evidence against this theory.

A new systematic review published in the Substance Use & Addiction Journal found inadequate evidence to support the notion that racial concordance improves health outcomes for black patients in addiction treatment.

The review examined 11 articles published between 1971 and 2016 that explored the effects of racial concordance on black patients in addiction treatment.

“The studies identified in this review did not provide adequate evidence that racial concordance improved treatment access, experiences, or outcomes for Black patients,” the authors concluded.

This review is further evidence that racial concordance does not improve health outcomes.

Arguments advocating for racial concordance in healthcare settings are irresponsible at best and downright harmful at worst.

Too often, we’ve seen racial concordance used to justify discriminatory hiring policies or admissions criteria.

Medical associations, medical schools, and other healthcare institutions that continue to push these unsupported theories are betraying fundamental ethical principles of medicine.