title: Disease Outcomes and Care Fragmentation Among Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
abstract: To examine the impact of care fragmentation across multiple health care institutions on disease outcomes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
  
  
  
  Using the Chicago HealthLNK Data Repository, an assembly of electronic health records from 6 institutions, we identified patients with SLE, using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes, whose care was delivered at more than 1 organization. We examined whether patients had severe infections or comorbidities (ICD-9 code defined) that indicated SLE-induced damage. T-tests and chi-square tests were used to examine differences between fragmentation groups. Logistic regression was used to assess factors contributing to the occurrence of disease outcomes.
  
  
  
  We identified 4,276 patients with SLE. A total of 856 (20%) received care from more than 1 health care institution. African American patients and patients with public insurance were more likely to experience care fragmentation compared to white and private insurance patients (odds ratio [OR] 1.66, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.44-1.97 and OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.42-1.95). We identified increased risk of infections (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.30-1.88), cardiovascular disease (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.23-1.86), end-stage renal disease (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.05-1.70), nephritis (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.07-1.54), and stroke (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.01-1.62) among patients with fragmented care, adjusted for age, sex, race, insurance status, length of followup time, and total visit count.
  
  
  
  In this cross-site cohort of SLE patients, care fragmentation is associated with increased risk of severe infection and comorbidities. These results suggest that improved health information exchange could positively impact outcomes for SLE patients.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Theresa L
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7653-3650
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Walunas
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Kathryn L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Anh H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Mancera-Cuevas
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Erickson
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Rosalind
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramsey-Goldman
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Abel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000209:etiology; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000209:etiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology