Vizient: Growing Population With Multiple Chronic Conditions Straining Emergency and Inpatient Capacity

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vizient^® today announced new findings from the Vizient Research Institute showing that patients with multiple chronic conditions now account for a disproportionate share of healthcare utilization, driving access challenges and further straining ER and inpatient capacity. The findings represent one of the most urgent opportunities for health systems to redesign care delivery.

Using claims data representing nearly 81 million Medicare, Medicaid and Commercial covered lives, the analysis found 11% of the U.S. population have multiple chronic conditions but make up 52% of inpatient admissions and a disproportionate share of outpatient visits, including 35% of emergency department visits and 32% of office visits. Without care models designed to support multiple chronic conditions, patients are at risk of delayed services.

“Health systems were largely designed around individual service lines and episodic care,” said Erika Johnson, vice president, strategic research, Vizient. “Our research makes clear that the fastest-growing and most resource-intensive cohort is patients living with multiple chronic conditions. If we do not fundamentally improve coordination across specialties and sites of care, systems will continue to experience capacity strain, higher costs and erosion of patient trust.”

While nearly 80% of chronically ill patients said they prefer to receive all their care within the same health system, they instead find access barriers, reporting higher levels of frustration with scheduling, delays in care and provider switching when appointments are not available.

The study also found that fragmentation across providers and systems carries financial consequences. Medicare spending for patients with multiple chronic conditions is approximately 30% higher when care is delivered across multiple health systems rather than coordinated within one system.

The findings point to the need for health systems to address multiple chronic needs simultaneously. Recommended strategies include multi-specialty care models, expanded home-based services, redesigned access pathways for high-risk patients and improved coordination across the continuum.

“As the population ages, managing multiple chronic conditions is no longer a niche program — it is a core strategic imperative,” Johnson added. “Organizations that proactively redesign care models around this cohort will be better positioned to improve outcomes, protect margins and sustain long-term growth.”

The findings are detailed in the Vizient Research Institute 2025 study, The chronic care reckoning: Redesign or absorb the cost

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc., the nation’s largest provider-driven healthcare performance improvement company, provides solutions and services to more than two-thirds of the nation’s acute care providers and more than one-third of ambulatory providers. Vizient offers proprietary data and analytics to deliver unique clinical and operational insights and a contract portfolio representing $156 billion in annual purchasing volume enabling the delivery of cost-effective care. With its acquisition of Kaufman Hall in 2024, Vizient expanded its advisory services to help providers achieve financial, clinical and operational excellence. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.