Patient outcomes and healthcare spending were almost identical between elderly hospitalized patients...

 

...regardless of whether physicians with a doctor of medicine (MD) or a doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) degree treated them, a new study found.

While DOs make up about 11% of physicians in the US, those medical professionals experience stigma because some assume they are “not considered real doctors” without an MD, KFF Health News reported.

The study analyzed more than 329,500 Medicare admissions, where 77% of patients were treated by an MD and 23% were treated by a DO. The patient mortality rate for MD physicians were 9.4%, compared to 9.5% for DO physicians; readmission rates were 15.7% and 15.6%, respectively; and the cost of care was respectively $1,004 versus $1,003, per the study. The length of hospital stay was 4.5 days for both groups.