News

The American Medical Association House of Delegates will vote on a resolution in support of medical-legal partnership at their annual meeting in Chicago later this week. The AMA Board of Trustees has recommended they approve the resolution.

A new report shows how medical-legal partnership can be effective in changing internal and regulatory systems. Using MLP | Boston's utility access advocacy as an example, the report highlights how MLPs move from patients to policy.

A new article in Diabetes Forecast highlights how the Diabetes Law Collaborative, an MLP in San Jose, is helping people with diabetes overcome barriers to healthcare.

Kate Mitchell, Esq. from the Toledo Medical-Legal Partnership for Children was featured in a ReachMD podcast about access to a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Kate talks about her firsthand experience representing high-risk infants in appealing insurers' decisions for prescribed RSV prophylaxis based on new guidelines.

Thirteen-year-old Haji Conteh had all the irritating symptoms of seasonal allergies when her father took her to see a pediatrician at a D.C. clinic last summer. But when the doctor questioned Haji and her father, she began to suspect there might be a cause other than pollen for the girl's sneezing and itchy eyes: the rats and mold in the family's Northwest Washington apartment.

The Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine & Law is sponsoring a new eJournal, Medical-Legal Studies. This eJournal identifies and analyzes the legal, social, economic, and psychological aspects of contemporary issues on which there may be tension between physicians and attorneys as well as issues presenting opportunities for positive collaboration between the medical and legal professions.

Local news segment on the partnership between MidPenn Legal Services and Southeast Lancaster Health Services and how they are helping patients get and stay healthy.

New article examines some of the legal and ethical issues that confront interdisciplinary collaboration and the medical-legal partnership model.

Medical-Legal Collaborative for Patients is a partnership of UPMC McKeesport and Neighborhood Legal Services Association

Whenever I diagnose a person with asthma or allergies, I usually ask a few questions about his or her living environment. Is there shag carpeting in the bedroom? Is the air conditioning filter changed every month? Is there evidence of roaches and other vermin? I ask these questions because mold, dust mites, animal saliva and insect droppings can worsen the symptoms of asthma and other illnesses.

A new article in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved discusses a 36-month study of the effectiveness of MLP. The study suggests that adding an attorney to the medical team increases awareness of and access to social and legal services.

The letter cut right to the point: Hawah Jackson’s lights would be turned off by the end of the month if she didn’t pay overdue utility bills totaling hundred of dollars. Jackson, a nurse at a rehabilitation hospital, said she didn’t have the money and worried how her 22-year-old severely disabled daughter, Binah, would cope if the power in their Dorchester home was shut off.

The National Center encourages sites to continue building on the wonderful momentum from Capitol Hill Day by reaching out to leaders in your community. Inviting legislators and staff to your hospital or clinic can be a rewarding experience and a great way to give policymakers the opportunity to get to know your MLP. A site visit can create a lasting impression of the positive impact your work has on the health and well being of individuals and families in your community.

A new report from the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services found that up to 85 percent of health center users experience unmet legal needs. The report cites medical-legal partnerships as effective in addressing legal issues while saving dollars, and that MLPs will be increasingly important as health reform unfolds.

A new 30 minute MLP audio training features physician champions from across the U.S. talking about how MLP positively impacts their patients and clinical practice. It's a great tool for learning more about medical-legal partnership and training faculty, residents and medical students. Use it at a local training, upload it as a podcast, and more!

New article in Harvard Business Review discusses re-orienting health care priorities and developing new leadership in medicine.

Sometimes traditionally perceived antagonistic relationships—such as those between lawyers and doctors—can take a 180° turn. This seemed to be the case with LegalHealth, a New York City-based group of pro-bono lawyers who team up with oncology professionals to help cancer patients navigate through some of the legal issues that might arise during the cancer experience.

A new issue brief from the Commonwealth Fund examines the difficulty of obtaining evidence in "evidence-based pediatrics" and describes a new, broader framework for evaluating clinical practice, one that should be of value to both clinicians and policymakers.

In partnership with NCMLP, McDermott Will and Emery is proud to launch a national project to provide pro bono general technical assistance to MLPs across the MLP Network. McDermott will be providing operations-related advice regarding health information privacy, ethics and confidentiality and organizational and other operations-related Issues.

The nation’s legal-education system needs a major overhaul so that students graduating with more than $100,000 in debt can find jobs in a shrinking market and graduate ready to practice. That was the consensus of most of the nearly 100 judges and law-firm partners who converged at a forum this week sponsored by Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.