What is Patient Navigation?
“Patient Navigators are trained, culturally sensitive health care workers who provide support and guidance throughout the cancer care continuum” (What are patient navigators? 2009). The healthcare system, which includes hospitals, clinics and insurance claims, can be hard to navigate for many patients. This is where patient navigators come in and help direct patients so that their experience in the hospital is made easier. According to the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities, the activities conducted by patient navigators include:
• Coordinating appointments with providers to ensure timely delivery of diagnostic and treatment services.
• Maintaining communication with patients, survivors, families, and the health care providers to monitor patient satisfaction with the cancer care experience.
• Ensuring that appropriate medical records are available at scheduled appointments.
• Arranging language translation or interpretation services.
• Facilitating financial support and helping with paperwork.
• Arranging transportation and/or child/elder care.
• Facilitating linkages to follow-up services.
Patient navigation is an excellent program that expanded since its establishment. However, it is a program that is only offered to cancer patients. In this paper, I will discuss the implementation of the patient navigation program at the three major hospitals in Albuquerque, which include University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH), Presbyterian and Lovelace Women’s Hospital and then discuss the future of patient navigation, which may mean expansion of services to patients who are affected with other chronic diseases.
History of Patient Navigation Program
Dr. Harold P Freeman, MD, started patient navigation...
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...t ombudsmen and navigators. State and Federal health care exchanges that be launched in 2014 include provisions for navigators to help consumers evaluate, choose and enroll in health insurance policies.” (Russell, 2012)
References:
1. Navigating Difficult Waters: The History of the Patient Navigators. (2009, April). Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/features/navigating-difficultwaters-the-history-of-the-patient-navigators
2. Freeman, H. P., Rodriguez, R. L. (2011). History and principles of patient navigation. Cancer, 3537-3540.
3. Russell, E. S. (2012). Becoming a Patient Navigator. Retrieved on April 17, 2017 from http://patientnavigator.com/blog/2012/08/27/becoming-a-patient-navigator-august-2012/.
4. What Are Patient Navigators? (2009, July 22). CRCHD -. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://crchd.cancer.gov/pnp/what-are.html
5.
...on rates have shown to improve when the facility is practicing patient- and family- centered care, which ultimately can increase the reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid. The increase reimbursement rates are extremely important for non-profit health care system such as OhioHealth Mansfield whose revenue comes from over sixty percent in Medicare and Medicaid funding. The PFCC self-assessment tool was analyzed based on OhioHealth Mansfield with strengths and weaknesses, which one big weakness consisted in the personnel domain which consists of support for staff, and the utilization of patients and family involvement in decision making and new employees. The system change of adding the new role of the patient navigator allows collaboration with a diverse team including patient and family members, along with ultimately increasing patient satisfaction rates.
"Palliative Care | Cancer.Net." Doctor-approved Cancer Information from ASCO | Cancer.Net. Cancer.net, Feb. 2010. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. .
Indication of better utilization of health care by patients obtaining navigator services as compared to a control group of patients without navigator services.
In summary the benefits or employing or deploying a patient portal clearly out weigh the concerns of the delaying the project. When correctly implemented and properly deployed the organizational advantages can be:
There seemed to be hardly any difference in the volume of office visits for the patients who used an electronic messaging program with a patient portal, based on a retroactive research of 2,357 adult primary care patients in Mayo Clinic’s Rochester, MN. The research was from April 2010 to August 2011. The researchers stated in the study that the portal has actually been promoted in order to reduce expenses on appointment setting up as ...
Nurse: Journal Of Patient Advocacy 105.1 (2009): 9. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
Communication and strong patient-provider relationships are two key aspects of a successful health care organization. Patient portals provide the technology to improve both of these aspects to create the most effective and personalized care for the patient. Successful communications strategies are imperative to health care organizations because the patient’s health depends on it. Patient portals create an efficient environment in which the patient feels connected to their health care provider and communication is effectively driven through interaction both in and out of the office.
Although healthcare providers are able to have some input in the decision making process in healthcare, they truly are not always aware of what their patients want. Only a patient has the responsibility to decide what direction according to their health that they want to go. It is a matter of choosing someone or something to lay out directives in case such a circumstance is to take place. Mo...
More familiar ambulatory care facilities, such as hospital outpatient departments and community health centers, have expanded to incl...
The book begins with a narrative of cancer relating back to its history. Cancer in the book is discussed as a confusing, complex disease that was hard to decode by doctors for over a century. Mukherjee gives rich details about the way people assessed breast cancer in the nineteenth century discussing how radiation and chemotherapy were once used before modern times. Further, into the book, Mukherjee shares with personal experience working in the field of
provide insight in which a nurse found the way to navigate through a patient encounter to
Stair, J. (1998). Understanding the Challenges for Hospice: Fundamental for the Future. Oncology Issues [Online]. 13(2): pages 22-25. *http://ehostweb6.Epnet.com: (2000, October 13).
Working as an oncology nurse has been a life changing experience. I have grown not only as a nurse, but also as a person. My eyes have been opened to the value of life, and not just life itself, but the precious thing that is a healthy life. I cannot count the number of patients from the beginning of my nursing career until now that have told me, “Well, I just didn’t think my symptoms were a big deal” or “The doctor told me I needed additional tests but it didn’t seem important at the time and I didn’t have any money”. The lack of patient education and provider follow-up in situations such as these is disheartening to observe. Experiences I have had with patients combined with their life stories have fueled my desire to become a family nurse
Kruse, B., (October 28, 2010) Patient scheduling benefits medical professionals, Retrieved January 25, 2011 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/patient-scheduling-benefits-medical-professionals.html
Dunniece, U. Slevin, E. (2000). Nurses' Experience of Being Present With a Patient Receiving a Diagnosis of Cancer. Journal of Advanced Nursing 32, pp.611-618.