Medical-Legal
Partnerships

Health care and legal care working together

A Medical-Legal Partnership is a healthcare delivery model focused on improving patient wellbeing with the social determinants of health – where people live, work and play and the impact on health. The legal care and health care teams work together to provide patients the legal and health services to thrive.

How to find help

MLP’s are co-located in the healthcare clinic for collaboration and convenience for patients.

How can an MLP Help?

I HELP

 

I – Income Supports
(SSI and SSDI, Garnishments)

H – Healthcare Access
(Medication or Equipment Appeals, Healthcare and Durable POAs)

E – Education and Employment
(FMLA and Special Education)

L – Landlord Tenant and Housing
(Eviction Defense, Deposit Disputes and Habitability)

P – Provide Family Safety and Stability
(PO’s, DV Divorce and Child Custody cases, Minor Relative Guardianships, Adult Guardianships)

Check the map to see if your healthcare provider has a LASO MLP!




More about MLPs

Hundreds of the nation’s leading health organizations integrate patient-centered legal services into their care delivery to address their communities’ health-related social needs. Currently, Oklahoma has the most comprehensive network of MLP’s in the nation.

People with chronic illnesses are healthier and admitted to the hospital less frequently, saving health care costs too. Examples include:

  • Improved housing conditions led to improved health in asthma patients
    (Journal of Asthma and Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved).
  • Youth with diabetes had significant improvement in their glycemic control
    (The Diabetes Educator)
  • Sickle cell patients were healthier
    (Pediatrics).
  • Health care spending on high-need, high-cost patients was reduced
    (Health Affairs).
  • Families of healthy newborns in a randomized control trial increased their use of preventive health care
    (Pediatrics).
  • People more commonly take their medications as prescribed.
    (Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved and Journal of Clinical Oncology)
  • People report less stress and experience improvements in mental health.
    (Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, Behavioral Medicine, and Health Affairs)
  • People are more stably housed and their utilities are less likely to be shut off.
    (Health Affairs, Housing Studies, and Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved)
  • People have access to greater financial resources.

One MLP program recovered $300,000 in back benefits for families over a three-year period (Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved), while another recovered more than $500,000 in financial benefits for families over a seven-year period (Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved).

Clinical services are more frequently reimbursed by public and private payers.

Medical-legal partnerships have been shown to save patients health care costs and recover cash benefits (Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved and Journal of Palliative Medicine).

Clinicians have a positive view MLP services.

In our 2016 survey of medical-legal partnership programs across the country, we asked health care organizations to tell us how often clinicians at their hospital or health center anecdotally reported the following benefits of MLP services:

  • Reported improved health outcomes for patients;
  • Reported improved patient compliance with medical treatment; and
  • Reported improved ability to perform “at the top of their license.”

Related Articles

  • Powers of Attorney

    Information about Powers of Attorney, different types, when to use them, and common questions and answers.

    Read More
  • Caring for Patients with Diminished Capacity

    What every Oklahoma health care professional needs to know about the legal and ethical issues of patient incapacity and surrogate decision making.

    Read More
  • Guardianship In Oklahoma

    An overview of Guardianship in Oklahoma for adults and children.

    Read More