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In honor of National Women’s Health Month, we’re celebrating how pivotal women are — as physicians and patients, caregivers and decision-makers — to healthcare. They are a steady presence in exam rooms, a driving force behind care teams, and voices advocating for a better system.

Every year, the share of women in the physician landscape has expanded; since 2004, the number of female physicians has grown by 97 percent, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Their increasing influence is especially impactful in pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology, which Privia champions by dedicating a division to each specialty: Privia Pediatrics and Privia Women’s Health.

To explore the tremendous progress women physicians have made, we’re examining recent research in three key areas — clinical leadership, career paths, and value-based care — to show how far we’ve come, what lies ahead, and why women are at the forefront of getting us there.

Empowering Women Physician Leaders

Despite making up more than three-quarters of the healthcare workforce, data shows that women hold only 25 percent of senior leadership roles and less than 20 percent of C-suite positions within healthcare organizations.

The Path Forward

One strategy to address gender gaps in healthcare leadership is through task forces, like Privia’s Women in Leadership (WIL) and Women’s Physician Advisory Council (WPAC). With 150 members, WIL celebrates how central women are to Privia as they hold nearly 100 leadership positions and make up:

• 78 percent of our advanced practitioners
• 62 percent of our total clinicians
• 46 percent of Privia’s Clinical Leadership Program participants

 
The group advocates for and equips women across specialties and clinical roles with the resources, tools, and support to amplify their impact in the community. Similarly, WPAC unites women clinicians to catalyze new leadership pipelines, improve professional networking, and expand collaboration.

By sponsoring surveys to identify barriers and measure progress, events focused on imposter syndrome and work-life balance, and continuing medical education (CME) opportunities, WPAC has made tremendous strides and continues to gain momentum.
 

Leading the Next Generation of Doctors

In 2019, 50.5 percent of medical students were women, AAMC data shows. That was the first time female students outnumbered male students. This trend has only grown over time as women now account for 55 percent of students.

The Path Forward

As more women complete medical school, it’s important they understand all of the potential career paths open to them. While physician employment has increased across the board in recent years, the American Medical Association (AMA) found that women and younger physicians are both especially likely to pursue traditional employment. Doctors who follow this route often do so because they believe private practice entails more administrative work.

Data shows, for instance, that women physicians spend significantly more time using their electronic health records (EHRs). However, there are solutions for private practices that make it a more appealing option.

Privia Women’s Health offers a specialty-specific EHR that’s refined based on feedback from doctors to help reduce documentation time. Integrated tools like Babyscripts and Dorsata can streamline workflows. And teams dedicated entirely to payer contracting, revenue cycle management, and other key operations help physicians focus on caring for patients.

As gynecologist Nadine Hammoud, MD, wrote in an op-ed for the AMA, private practice can provide female doctors at the beginning of their careers with greater autonomy, long-term relationships with patients, and the perfect environment to cultivate their unique styles of medicine.

Listen to Dr. Hammoud discuss joining a private practice — then opening her own — after residency.

 
 

Advancing Value-Based Care

Studies suggest female primary care physicians (PCPs) generate less revenue than male PCPs at the same practice due to a lower visit volume despite spending more time in direct patient care per visit.

The Path Forward

Women physicians’ decision, on average, to spend more time with fewer patients may lead to lower fee-for-service earnings but can also set them up to thrive in value-based care (VBC). Longer visits allow for more opportunities to fulfill VBC quality measures by identifying and closing care gaps. The revenue from closing care gaps could also close the gender pay gap, which one study calculated as $2 million in career earnings.

Fulfilling VBC quality metrics can also drive better patient care in women’s health. “Care gaps continue to put expectant mothers at risk of life-threatening complications,” Keith Berkle, MD, MBA, a Virginia-based OB-GYN, wrote in an op-ed for Medical Economics. “VBC in prenatal care holds the promise of equipping OB-GYNs with technology solutions that help them provide more timely, effective care at all points of a pregnancy and also of empowering patients with the knowledge they need to feel confident in the care they’re receiving.”

Privia can help physicians excel in VBC while also supporting their fee-for-service performance. We help offload VBC’s administrative elements so doctors in our physician-led networks can build relationships and work together to improve women’s health.

Progress only happens when exceptional physicians come together with a shared purpose. That is the power of Privia Women’s Health and our female physicians and leaders. It’s a community where they can lead boldly, care deeply, and practice on their own terms while shaping the future of medicine.
 

Learn more about Privia Women’s Health.