90. STRENGTHENING MEDICAL-LEGAL PARTNERSHIPS: THE ADVOCACY LETTER PROJECT

Abstract

Many medical problems intersect with legal issues. While medical providers may screen for such social determinants of health, they often lack the time, knowledge, tools and, agency to effectively advocate for their patients. Physicians may refer patients to a social worker or legal aid clinic, but these resources do not have sufficient capacity to address all patient needs. The Advocacy Letter Project worked with the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic (PAC), a legal aid clinic, at the University of Michigan Law School to identify important medical-legal issues and to build capacity among community providers by creating advocacy letter templates and training for their ideal utilization. This project is supported by an AAP CATCH grant. An initial needs assessment survey of providers identified which common medical legal issues are identified during patient visits. We developed advocacy letter templates to address these issues with the help of the PAC. Workshops were given for faculty and residents to optimize utilization of the letters. A reporting mechanism was created to track utilization of these templates within the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). Pre and post implementation provider survey data will be used to monitor provider perception of efficacy and usefulness of the letter templates. EMR review of template utilization will be used to identify frequency of use for each letter type. Preliminary data from the needs assessment suggest a significant need to better intervene on patient's behalf regarding medical legal needs to improve health equity. Letter templates are being created, reviewed by PAC, and implemented in the EMR. Data on frequency of use and post implementation survey data as well as statistical analysis will be available in March. Medical providers often struggle to intervene on legal issues affecting patient's health. Strengthening a medical legal partnership and making patient advocacy letters easily accessible allows physicians to more effectively address their patients’ needs. The next step is increasing access to and utilization of these letter templates in our community.