Practice Characteristics of Self-Identified Black Dermatologists in the United States

Abstract

There is a documented shortage of Black dermatologists in the United States, with little known about their practice characteristics. We analyzed the practice patterns (e.g., location, group setting, beneficiary characteristics, local geographic characteristics) of 221 self-identified Black dermatologists in the Black Dermatologist Directory through analysis of publicly available Medicare datasets. Compared to non-Black dermatologists, Black dermatologists were more likely to be female (80.1% vs. 51.1%), practice in the South (49.8% vs. 34.9%), work in solo practices (35.8% vs. 19.8%) or academic centers (18.1% vs. 15.5%), and practice in counties with a higher proportion of non-Hispanic Black individuals (21.0% vs. 13.2%). Black dermatologists treated a higher proportion of non-Hispanic Black Medicare beneficiaries (21.7% vs. 2.7%) and dual Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries (15.0% vs. 9.7%). Major limitations include reliance on public data which may incompletely capture all practicing Black dermatologists. Overall, the findings support the important role of Black dermatologists in treating minority and Medicaid beneficiaries; increased representation of Black dermatologists may ultimately allow for improved patient access and promote awareness and knowledge of specific dermatologic needs of Black patients among the broader dermatology community.

Keywords: Black dermatologists; dermatologic access; medicare beneficiaries; minority physicians; practice setting.