Health Care Utilization and Clinical Characteristics of Nonhospitalized Adults in an Integrated Health Care System 28-180 Days After COVID-19 Diagnosis - Georgia, May 2020-March 2021.

ABSTRACT

As of April 19, 2021, 21.6 million COVID-19 cases had been reported among U.S. adults, most of whom had mild or moderate disease that did not require hospitalization (1). Health care needs in the months after COVID-19 diagnosis among nonhospitalized adults have not been well studied. To better understand longer-term health care utilization and clinical characteristics of nonhospitalized adults after COVID-19 diagnosis, CDC and Kaiser Permanente Georgia (KPGA) analyzed electronic health record (EHR) data from health care visits in the 28-180 days after a diagnosis of COVID-19 at an integrated health care system. Among 3,171 nonhospitalized adults who had COVID-19, 69% had one or more outpatient visits during the follow-up period of 28-180-days. Compared with patients without an outpatient visit, a higher percentage of those who did have an outpatient visit were aged ≥50 years, were women, were non-Hispanic Black, and had underlying health conditions. Among adults with outpatient visits, 68% had a visit for a new primary diagnosis, and 38% had a new specialist visit. Active COVID-19 diagnoses* (10%) and symptoms potentially related to COVID-19 (3%-7%) were among the top 20 new visit diagnoses; rates of visits for these diagnoses declined from 2-24 visits per 10,000 person-days 28-59 days after COVID-19 diagnosis to 1-4 visits per 10,000 person-days 120-180 days after diagnosis. The presence of diagnoses of COVID-19 and related symptoms in the 28-180 days following acute illness suggests that some nonhospitalized adults, including those with asymptomatic or mild acute illness, likely have continued health care needs months after diagnosis. Clinicians and health systems should be aware of post-COVID conditions among patients who are not initially hospitalized for acute COVID-19 disease.