The Oakland Men's Health Disparities Study

Reducing racial disparities in health outcomes is a major policy concern in the United States. Although there has been recent progress to close the gap, black men continue to experience earlier morbidity and mortality from preventable and manageable medical conditions, and live on average 4.2 years less than their white male peers. An oft-prescribed solution to close this stubborn gap is to increase the diversity of the healthcare workforce. Another common policy tool to increase take-up of preventative healthcare services is financial incentives. In this randomized evaluation, we will estimate the effects of financial incentives and a racially concordant physician on the uptake of preventive health services in Oakland, California.