Medical-Legal Partnerships Facilitate Patient-Provider Cost of Care Conversations: A Multisite Qualitative Study in the U.S.
Description
This study examined the impact of medical-legal partnerships on facilitating and managing outcomes of patient-provider cost of care conversations. The authors conducted 96 semi-structured interviews with 18 patients and 78 medical-legal partnership personnel from 10 states between March and November of 2020. The presence of legal staff strengthened interdisciplinary collaborations and built healthcare providers’ confidence to address health-harming legal needs through effective cost of care conversations.
Medical-legal partnerships with well-established provider training opportunities also reported improved patient outcomes and increased return on investment for health systems. Positive patient outcomes included improved access to public benefits, health benefits, financial benefits, special education services, stable housing, and food. The total annual financial impact for one large MLP was reported as $18.2 million with roughly $23,262 recovered per case. Over a 2-year period, another site reported $738,944 in cost avoidance for patients through assistance with food stamps, Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, housing and education-related cases. A third site reported an ROI of $725,000 for the health system, $469,44 in financial benefits to patients, and 28 to 42 days of avoided hospital admissions over a 2-year period. Findings were published in Clinical Nursing Research.
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Authors
Jean S. Edward, PhD, RN
Kimberly D. Northrip, MD, MPH, FAAP
Andrea Welker, JD
Julia F. Costich, JD, PhD