Linking Emergency Department Patients to Assistance Programs Study

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · Dec 8, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

Every year, Philadelphians fail to claim approximately $450 million dollars in federal and state benefits1. Across the United States, unclaimed benefits are estimated at approximately $60 billion1. These benefits include support for food, housing, healthcare, economic support, and others that can make a significant impact on well-being, upward mobility, and financial stability. The reasons that benefits are unclaimed are numerous, including lack of awareness about benefit programs and eligibility criteria, lack of agency and self-efficacy in completing expansive application requirements and...

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• Patients will be included in the study based on the following criteria:
• • Adults at least 18 years of age
• • Patients must legally reside in Philadelphia
• • Patients receiving care from Penn Medicine Emergency Departments at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Centerwho are deemed unlikely to require inpatient hospitalization or observation at the time of enrollment
• • Patients must have one of the following insurance plans: Medicaid and/or Medicare (managed and traditional).
• • Patient must be able to read/write in English.
• • Patients must be eligible for at least 1 of the benefits programs for which BDT can provide either direct application assistance or provide a referral to the social services agency website to submit applications.
• • Patients have a stable mobile phone number for the next 3 weeks.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• Patients will be excluded from participating in the study based on the following criteria:
• • Individuals \< 18 years
• • Patients deemed by ED physicians to be in critical or unstable condition
• • Does not speak/read English
• • Patient is in severe distress, e.g., respiratory, physical, or emotional distress
• • Patient is intoxicated, unconscious, or unable to appropriately respond to questions
• • Patients under police custody
• • Patients with a positive COVID-19 test
• • Patients with private health insurance benefits or without health insurance
• • Patients without a stable mobile phone number for the next 21 days

Trial Officials