9th Annual Conference

A large multi-hospital system developed the first in-house health system Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) program to address the needs of its economically disadvantaged patients and delivery teams. This program used legal levers to improve the social determinants of health to address underserved populations’ drain on hospital resources, to curtail economic losses, and to improve morale while reducing burnout for healthcare providers.

Studies have demonstrated a correlation between patient financial barriers and adherence to therapy. Poor adherence may result in an increase in length of stays, poor health outcomes, high utilization status, and perception as non-compliant. Connecting patients with community legal resources, assisting in legal self-help legal, and collaborating with the legal system, government, and advocacy organizations the MLP program removed legal barrier’s patients were facing — both knowingly and unknowingly — to being adherent. The National MLP program offers I-HELP (income/insurance, housing/homelessness, education/employment, legal status, personal dynamics) for areas in which MLP programs can identify legal issues that affect patient health and outcomes. This MLP program’s innovative approach to identifying patient-facing legal issues and to facilitating strategic navigation of such barriers resulted in increased adherence and successful medical care for patients and improved morale for healthcare delivery teams.

Leveraging legal strategies and expanding traditional adherence models from socioeconomic and health literacy emphases to encompass interventions to eradicate barriers that often are not discussed or considered in the realm of healthcare and pharmaceutical delivery has been recognized as invaluable. Optimizing adherence carries far-reaching implications for public health responses to reduce healthcare expenditures while designing metrics that hold health systems accountable for delivery of care and employee health.

Presenter 1 is a thought leader and healthcare executive with an extensive portfolio including keynotes and panel discussions in national conferences. Presenter 2 is a SVP at a large healthcare platform responsible for helping life science companies develop and implement global Opt-in and Adherence Programs with a focus on the underserved populations. Presenter 3 is a management consultant with nearly two decades of experience advising life science organizations.

economically disadvantaged, social determinants, legal barriers, pharmaceutical adherence, length of stay, frequent flier status, culturally relevant conversations, complex cases, enhanced support services, physician burnout

Panel discussions: assemble a group of 3-6 people with varying perspectives to discuss a topic as an interdisciplinary team

This session is appropriate for all audiences and skill levels