Social Risks and Health Care Use in Medically Complex Patients

Integrated health care systems have initiated major investments to identify and address social risks, particularly for patients with multiple medical conditions.

To evaluate the association of social risks with health care use among patients with complex multimorbidity.

This longitudinal cohort study assessed Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) patients with (1) moderate medical complexity (defined by high comorbidity score, high risk of hospitalization, and/or prior emergency department [ED] admissions) and (2) high medical complexity (eg, meeting additional criteria, such as ≥7 medications and laboratory evidence of poor disease control).

Social risks (eg, requiring medical financial assistance and self-reported social barriers to care).

Inpatient and outpatient health care use during 12 months of follow-up (January 15, 2023, to January 14, 2024).

The sample included 97 252 KPNC patients (mean [SD] age, 69.5 [16] years; 52.1% female; 10.6% Asian, 11.1% Black, 18.3% Hispanic, 54.6% White, and 5.5% other race or ethnicity [eg, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, multiracial, or unknown race]; and 8.8% insured by Medicaid), including 27 827 with moderate medical complexity (5074 [18.2%] with social risks) and 69 425 with high medical complexity (17 343 [25.0%] with social risks). In fully adjusted models, for moderate medical complexity, social risks were associated with higher odds of inpatient admissions (odds ratio [OR], 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.4), ED visits (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.3), and mental health visits (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.3) vs individuals without social risks. Among individuals with high medical complexity, social risks were associated with higher odds of inpatient admissions (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.2), ED visits (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.2), and 30-day readmissions (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.3) and higher odds of mental health visits (OR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.2-1.3) vs individuals without social risks.

In this cohort study of individuals with medical complexity, coexisting social risks were associated with substantial downstream health care use. Efforts to reduce use in individuals with complex medical comorbidity could include concurrent efforts to identify and reduce social risks.