Patient Navigation Essay

Patient Navigation Patient navigation is a process that an individual guides the patient through healthcare journey of treatments, financial process; help with cultural change, communication barriers, healthcare system, transportation issues and fear (Freeman, 2004). The patient navigation profession became known in 1990 when Dr. Harold P. Freeman founded the first patient navigation program in order to make sure his cancer patients had a good clinical experience (Freeman, 2013). Over the decade, “the patient navigation profession has become more popular, demanding and rapidly growing in healthcare” (ACS,2015). The patient navigation profession did have any formal guidelines or standard competencies until 2009. (Shockney, 2015). _____ Patient …show more content…
The purpose of a nurse navigator is to guide the patient through their treatment process. A nurse navigator serves as the patient’s advocate to communicate to the patient’s healthcare professionals to take care of the gaps in the treatment process, such as coordinating doctor appointments, tests, follow-ups and communicates to the patient to let them know the place, time and date of the appointments (Leverence, 2015). A nurse navigator fills in the gap for patients to be treated closer to their hometown by finding healthcare facilities and providers that offer the care the patient needs to treat their condition (Smith, …show more content…
Lay navigators focus on the system barrier in healthcare such as scheduling and following up screenings for the patient. Lay navigators can serve as the patient’s support system by going to appointment with the patient and helps the patient navigate to a particular place within the healthcare system (Murphy, 2013). The lay navigator addresses any questions or concerns the patient might have (Valentino, 2013). The patient navigator’s goal is to make the patient’s less stressful, peaceful and enjoyable as it can