Identification of Hospitals That Care for a High Proportion of Patients With Social Risk Factors

Question

Are hospitals that care for a high proportion of patients with social risk factors consistently identified using varied definitions of these factors?

Findings

In this cross-sectional study, among 4465 US hospitals qualified for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services hospital performance measures, one-third were identified as caring for a high proportion of patients with social risk factors across 7 definitions of social risk; fewer than 1% met all 7 definitions. Most hospitals serving patients with social risk factors could be identified using 3 or 4 definitions.

Meaning

Inconsistencies in identifying hospitals caring for high proportions of patients with social risk factors suggest value in developing a common definition of social risk.

Importance

Hospitals can face significant clinical and financial challenges in caring for patients with social risk factors. Currently the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program stratifies hospitals by proportion of patients eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid when calculating payment penalties to account for the patient population. However, additional social risk factors should be considered.

Objective

To evaluate 7 different definitions of social risk and understand the degree to which differing definitions identify the same hospitals caring for a high proportion of patients with social risk factors.

Design, Setting, and Participants

Across 18 publicly reported Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital performance measures, highly disadvantaged hospitals were identified by the the proportion of patients with social risk factors using the following 7 commonly used definitions of social risk: living below the US poverty line, educational attainment of less than high school, unemployment, living in a crowded household, African American race (as a proxy for the social risk factor of exposure to racism), Medicaid coverage, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality index of socioeconomic status score. In this cross-sectional study, social risk factors were evaluated by measure because hospitals may serve a disadvantaged patient population for one measure but not another. Data were collected from April 1, 2014, to June 30, 2017, and analyzed from July 25, 2019, to April 25, 2021.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The proportion of hospitals identified as caring for patients with social risk factors using 7 definitions of social risk, across 18 publicly reported CMS hospital performance measures.

Results

Among 4465 hospitals, a mean of 31.0% (range, 28.9%-32.3%) were identified at least once when using the 7 definitions of social risk as caring for a high proportion of patients with social risk factors. Among all hospitals meeting at least 1 definition of social risk, a mean of 0.7% (range, 0%-1.0%) were identified as highly disadvantaged by all 7 definitions. Among hospitals meeting at least 1 definition of social risk, a mean of 2.7% (range, 1.3%-5.1%) were identified by 6 definitions; 6.5% (range, 5.9%-7.1%), by 5 definitions; 10.4% (range, 9.5%-12.1%), by 4 definitions; 13.2% (range, 10.1%-14.4%), by 3 definitions; 21.4% (range, 20.1%-22.4%), by 2 definitions; and 45.2% (range, 42.6%-47.1%), by only 1 definition. This pattern was consistent across all 18 performance measures.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cross-sectional study, there were inconsistencies in the identification of hospitals caring for disadvantaged populations using different definitions of social risk factors. Without consensus on how to define disadvantaged hospitals, policies to support such hospitals may be applied inconsistently.