"Sure, Let's See What You Got": A Qualitative Analysis of Healthcare Provider Letters Used in Court Proceedings

Formerly incarcerated individuals face a host of social and medical barriers to reintegrating sustainably into society. The potential role of medical provider input in these individuals' criminal-legal involvement through providing information via letters has yet to be explored.

To examine the role of provider letters in court proceedings for criminal-legally involved patients.

Retrospective chart review for patients who received provider letters and qualitative analysis of court transcripts that correlate with the timing of said letters.

Any patient enrolled in the primary care clinic with a record of a customizable provider letter documented in the electronic health record (EHR).

Themes and subthemes from court transcripts for primary care patients with criminal-legal involvement who had provider letters written on their behalf.

Customizable provider letters that provide information about the medical and social circumstances of patients were acceptable documents to legal professionals in a court setting and found to hold relevant data referenced in judicial decision-making.

Overall, this study has important implications for the role that healthcare providers can play in the judicial process for their patients. This study highlights a novel area for providing provider insight in a court setting, thus improving the comprehensiveness of healthcare for criminal-legally involved patients. Customizable provider letters are accepted methods for providing useful information in a court setting and are a tool at the intersection of health and justice that deserves further study and scaling.