The problems are visible.
The solutions are not.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Only 13% of Americans
surveyed believe that
“lawyers contribute a lot to society.”
(Pew Research Study, July 2013).
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Department of Health Policy
Three Sectors Address
Social Determinants of Health in Silos
HEALTHCAR
E
treats illnesses
caused or
exacerbated by
SDOH.
LEGAL AID
ensures access to
benefits & services,
enforces laws that
keep people
healthy.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
PUBLIC
HEALTH
tracks diseases on
population level,
addresses laws &
education aimed at
prevention.
Healthcare, public health & civil
legal aid coordinating care through a
medical-legal
partnership approach
is our vision for a
culture of health.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Making the connection:
Legal problems are health problems.
Common Legal Problem
Social Determinant of Health
Families wrongfully denied food supports
Presenter
Name
or housing
subsidies
Lack of basic resources
Presenter
Title
Children living in housing
with mold
or
rodents, in violation of housing
Datelaws
Physical environment
Seniors wrongfully denied long-term care
coverage
Lack of access to insurance
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
MLPs help patients with I-HELP® issues
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
The Medical-Legal Partnership Approach
Individual patient legal interventions are
pathways to finding the policy interventions
for improving population health.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Most SDOH interventions assume resources
exist and that there aren’t barriers to
accessing them.
Medical-legal
partnership
unlocks and
stocks the
pharmacy.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Stocking the housing pharmacy:
An MLP patients-to-policy story
Unsafe housing brought more than a dozen
children to the hospital. Health / legal
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
hotspotting led to the remodeling of several
What happened when the heat went off?
TRAINING
PATIENT
level intervention
CLINIC
level intervention
POPULATION
level intervention
Training
Attorneys trained healthcare providers how to screen
at-risk patients for utility shut off and write
protection letters.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Department of Health Policy
Healthcare providers
wrote letters
protecting 193
families.
What happened when the heat went off?
TRAINING
PATIENT
level intervention
CLINIC
level intervention
New Energy Clinic
Attorneys opened new legal clinic at hospital to help
families who healthcare providers referred for utility
shutoff.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Department of Health Policy
POPULATION
level intervention
Attorneys helped families
get heat and electricity
turned back on.
What happened when the heat went off?
TRAINING
PATIENT
level intervention
CLINIC
level intervention
Utility Letter in the EMR
Attorneys drafted form letter for patient EMR.
Healthcare providers no longer had to draft from
scratch.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Department of Health Policy
POPULATION
level intervention
Healthcare providers
wrote 350% more letters
helping 676 families.
Saved clinic time.
What happened when the heat went off?
TRAINING
PATIENT
level intervention
CLINIC
level intervention
Testimony Changed Utility Regulations
Attorney / healthcare provider testimony reduced
need for chronic disease re-certification and allowed
nurses to sign letters.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Department of Health Policy
POPULATION
level intervention
Fewer families faced
utility shutoff, preventing
problem.
Presenter Name
135
Hospitals
127
Health Centers
32
Medical Schools
127
Legal Aid Agencies
46
Law Schools
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Presenter Title
Date
For more information:
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
NCMLP
Presenter Name
National_MLP
Presenter Title
Date
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Legal aid tends to talk about problems.
Presenter Name
Presenter Title
Date
www.medical-legalpartnership.org
Healthcare tends to talk about solutions.
www.medical-legalpartnership.org