There was no significant difference in outcomes among patients of physicians with MDs and patients of physicians with DOs, according to a study from researchers at the University of California Los Angeles published May 30 in Annals of Internal Medicine.
The study pulled data from 329,510 Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 or older between Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2019. Seventy-seven percent of the patients were treated by physicians with MD degrees, while the remaining 23 percent were treated by physicians with DO degrees.
The study found that patient mortality rates were 9.4 percent for MD physicians and 9.5 percent for DO physicians, patient readmission rates were 15.7 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively, and healthcare spending was $1,004 and $1,003, respectively. The average length of stay was 4.5 days for both groups of physicians.