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Diversity in practice: Doctors who look more like their patients

With changing patient demographics, hiring minority and women physicians has become a wise business choice for many groups.

By Mike Norbut, amednews staff. Dec. 5, 2005.

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When Jesse Hsieh, MD, joined South Bend Clinic more than two decades ago, he stood out among the group's 10 white male doctors.

Now president of the group, Dr. Hsieh, who is of Asian descent, sees a melting pot of physicians that better reflects the larger South Bend, Ind., community. White and black, Hispanic and Asian, male and female, the multispecialty group with eight locations is now a model of diversity. Out of 10 new hires this past year, six are men and four are women. Two are black, two are Hispanic, and one is Syrian. Only one is a white male.

"A key factor in our diversity is our open-mindedness," said Dr. Hsieh, a family physician who has seen the group grow from 10 physicians to about 85 over 20 years. "We decided, as a matter of policy, that we would take the best physician for the job, no matter where they came from. Since then, because of our open-mindedness, our partnership has grown a lot."

Although the group did not necessarily set out to accommodate certain segments of the patient population, it has seen the marketing benefits that a diverse medical staff can provide. Like the South Bend Clinic, more practices have recognized the value of diversity recently, as hiring minority physicians has become both socially responsible and a savvy business move.

Patient demographics are changing for many groups, and people are interested in physicians who can meet both their clinical and cultural needs. If everything else is equal, a minority patient may choose a more diverse practice over a single-race group.