Use of pattern recognition in identifying and treating patients who are homeless

• Difficulty in identifying which patients are homeless

• Overlap with substance abuse and mental illness

• Clinical hypervigilance vs clinical complacency

Variations from standard ED care for patients who are homeless

• Hospital admission decisions

• Unique external burdens and barriers (e.g., time pressures, difficulty obtaining medications)

• Personal factors (e.g., communication, hygiene)

Tensions in navigating the boundaries of ED social care

• Social needs addressed by ED for individual patients (e.g., food, shelter) and as social safety net (e.g., patients brought to ED for public intoxication)

• Resident boundaries: how much is “my job”?

• Organizational boundaries: tension between ED’s role and limitations in addressing social issues

Note. ED = emergency department.