Care fragmentation is associated with increased risk of severe infection and comorbidities in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a recent study found. Using the Chicago HealthLNK Data Repository (HDR), an assembly of electronic health records from 6 institutions, researchers identified patients with SLE, using ICD-9 codes, whose care was delivered at more than 1 organization. They identified 4,276 patients with SLE and examined whether they had severe infections or comorbidities that indicate SLE-induced damage. They found:

• 856 (20%) received care from more than 1 healthcare institution.
• African American patients and patients with public insurance were more likely to experience care fragmentation compared to white and private insurance patients.
• There was an increased risk of infections, cardiovascular disease, end stage renal disease, nephritis, and stroke among patients with fragmented care, adjusted for age, sex, race, insurance status, length of follow-up time, and total visit count.