The medical-legal partnership (MLP) model is emerging across the USA as a powerful tool to address the adverse social conditions underlying health injustice. MLPs embed legal experts into healthcare teams to address health-harming legal needs with civil legal remedies. We conducted a narrative review of peer-reviewed articles published between 2007 and 2022 to characterize the structure and impacts of US MLPs on patients, providers, and healthcare systems. We found that MLPs largely serve vulnerable patient populations by integrating legal experts into community-based clinical settings or children’s hospitals, although patient populations and settings varied widely. In most models, healthcare providers were trained to screen patients for legal needs and refer them to legal experts. MLPs provided a wide range of services, such as assistance accessing public benefits (e.g., Social Security, Medicaid, cash assistance) and legal representation for immigration and family law matters. Patients and their families also benefited from increased knowledge about legal rights and systems. Though the evidence base remains nascent, available studies show MLPs to be associated with greater access to care, fewer hospitalizations, and improved physical and mental health outcomes. Medical and legal providers who were engaged in MLPs reported interdisciplinary learning, and healthcare systems often experienced high returns on investment through cost savings and increased Medicaid reimbursement. Many MLPs also conducted advocacy and education to effect broader policy changes related to population health and social needs. To optimize the MLP model, more rigorous research, systematic implementation practices, evaluation metrics, and sustainable funding mechanisms are recommended. Broader integration of MLPs into healthcare systems could help address root causes of health inequity among historically marginalized populations in the USA.

医疗法律合作（MLP）模式正在美国各地兴起，成为解决健康不公正背后的不利社会条件的有力工具。 MLP 将法律专家纳入医疗保健团队，通过民事法律补救措施来解决损害健康的法律需求。我们对 2007 年至 2022 年间发表的同行评审文章进行了叙述性审查，以描述美国 MLP 的结构和对患者、提供者和医疗保健系统的影响。我们发现，虽然患者群体和环境差异很大，但 MLP 主要通过将法律专家纳入社区临床环境或儿童医院来为弱势患者群体提供服务。在大多数模式中，医疗保健提供者接受过培训，可以筛选患者的法律需求并将他们转介给法律专家。 MLP 提供广泛的服务，例如协助获得公共福利（例如社会保障、医疗补助、现金援助）以及移民和家庭法事务的法律代理。患者及其家人也受益于对法律权利和制度的更多了解。尽管证据基础仍处于起步阶段，但现有研究表明，MLP 与更多获得护理、更少住院以及改善身心健康结果相关。参与 MLP 的医疗和法律提供者报告了跨学科学习，医疗保健系统通常通过节省成本和增加医疗补助报销获得高投资回报。许多 MLP 还开展宣传和教育，以实现与人口健康和社会需求相关的更广泛的政策变化。为了优化 MLP 模型，建议进行更严格的研究、系统的实施实践、评估指标和可持续的资助机制。 将 MLP 更广泛地纳入医疗保健系统可能有助于解决美国历史上边缘化人群健康不平等的根本原因。