Western Journal of Emergency Medicine: Integrating Emergency Care with Population Health

Introduction: Social medicine seeks to incorporate patients’ social contexts into their medical care. Emergency physicians are uniquely positioned to address social determinants of health (SDoH) on the frontlines of the healthcare system. Miami-Dade County (MDC) is a diverse and socially vulnerable area. In 2020, the University of Miami-Jackson Health System (UM-JHS) emergency medicine (EM) residency program launched a multimodal, resident-led Social EM program to identify and address SDoH in the emergency department (ED).

Methods: We use a four-pillar approach to SDoH in the ED: Curriculum Integration; Community Outreach; Access to Care; and Social Justice. Residents graduate with a knowledge of Social EM principles through an 18-month curriculum, an elective, and a longitudinal track. We developed sustainable initiatives through interdepartmental and community-based partnerships, including a Narcan distribution initiative, an ED-based program linking uninsured patients to follow-up care, a human trafficking education initiative, and a quality improvement initiative for incarcerated patients.

Results: Given that the 18-month curriculum was launched in 2022, a full rotation of the curriculum had not been completed as of this writing, and data collection and analysis is an ongoing process. The initial pretest and post-test survey data show improvement in knowledge and confidence in managing Social EM topics. The Narcan initiative has screened 1,188 patients, of whom 144 have received Narcan. The ED-based patient navigation program has enrolled 31 patients to date, 18 of whom obtained outpatient care. Analysis of the impact/effectiveness of the program’s other initiatives is ongoing.

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is one of the most robust social EM programs to date, as many other programs primarily focus on service opportunities. Rooted in the revised principles of Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning, this program moves beyond understanding Social EM tenets to generating solutions to address SDoH in and outside the ED.