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Medical-Legal Partnerships: Investing in Social Services as a Core Strategy for Healthcare

An Effective Practice

Description

Medical-Legal partnerships use lawyers as specialists in a healthcare settings. This enables patients to have legal support and on-site free consults alongside clinical and non-clinical staff. This partnership can help recognize legal issues that may negatively affect medical outcomes. One such instance is with asthma patients and using a LegalHealth partnership to identify the legal requirements to demand landlords to clear apartments of rodents, bugs, mold, and water and structural damage - which were causing adverse health outcomes in these asthma patients.

Goal / Mission

New York City LegalHealth is a fruitful partnership that operates in 11 clinics of the city's public hospitals. One example is by supporting individuals in tenant-landlord disputes.

Impact

With an average of $225 per case, LegalHealth was able to effectively demand fixes in asthma patients' living conditions. This impact directly resulted in a 90% drop in emergency room visits and hospital admissions for this asthma patient group.

Results / Accomplishments

In this NYC partnership with LegalHealth, the legal staff was able to legally support patients with aspects of their housing conditions that were leading to poor health outcomes and frequent emergency room visits and hospital admissions. With the utilization of the legal team as on-site free aid to patients, clinics are able to help solve specific issues that negatively impact asthma patients' health such as mold, poor ventilation, and bug infestations. These accomplishments lead to a high decrease in repeat clinic activity with low monetary costs.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
New York City LegalHealth
Primary Contact
Topics
Health / Health Care Access & Quality
Community / Community & Business Resources
Economy / Housing & Homes
Organization(s)
New York City LegalHealth
Source
KPMG Institute
Date of publication
Mar 2018
Geographic Type
Urban
Location
New York City
For more details
Target Audience
Children, Teens, Adults
Michigan Health Improvement Alliance