Association between patient complexity and healthcare costs in primary care on a Japanese island: a cross-sectional study.

This study clarified the association between patient complexity and healthcare costs in a primary care setting on a Japanese island. We found that such costs tended to be relatively low in patient groups with the highest complexity. In primary care, healthcare costs probably do not accurately reflect the value of services provided by medical institutions; it may be essential to introduce a system that provides incentives for problem-solving approaches to social issues.