Background: Healthcare disparities have existed for decades, yet it took a global pandemic to put this emergency into the spotlight. The Joint Commission states “health related social needs” (HRSN) are the root cause of many disparities. HRSN encompasses a wide spectrum including inability to pay bills, poor access to transportation, and lack of housing. At [...]

Background: Healthcare disparities have existed for decades, yet it took a global pandemic to put this emergency into the spotlight. The Joint Commission states “health related social needs” (HRSN) are the root cause of many disparities. HRSN encompasses a wide spectrum including inability to pay bills, poor access to transportation, and lack of housing. At [...]

Background: Health-related social needs (HRSN) exacerbate poor health in patients with chronic medical conditions. The population of frequently hospitalized patients is heterogeneous, but many have unmet health related social needs. Multidisciplinary programs for this population emphasize longitudinal patient-provider relationships and intensive case management. Studies of these interventions have failed to demonstrate improved readmissions outcomes but [...]

Case Presentation: A 33-year-old female presented to the emergency department with 2-days of fever, nausea, non-bilious/non-bloody vomiting, epigastric pain, and anorexia. This was superimposed on a one-year history of intermittent abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, bilious vomiting, and 20-pound weight loss which has been preceded by food insecurity with resulting weight loss. Her past medical, surgical, [...]