Patient Navigator Case Study

Patient navigation was proposed as an innovative approach to assist patients and their family members with potential barriers in an effort to reduce disparities and navigate patients through the complexities of obtaining medical care after an illness or acute diagnosis. There are typically two common methods, with the exception of volunteer work, that patient navigators are employed. Some are employed through hospitals, while others are employees through organization such as the American Cancer Society to work in a cancer center or community based hospital. Lastly, the least common model where a patient navigator is employed is through a community based organization usually revolving around cancer screening. Employment costs are most often …show more content…
The cost of each resource can be determined by its principal market price, which will be a variable depending on the geographic location. Typical navigation programs are associated with fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs are resources expended as long as the program is in place and will not fluctuate by the number of patients navigated or the type of services delivered by the navigators, whereas variable costs correlate with the rate of recurrence, intensity, and category of the patient navigator services. The human principal costs of patient navigators will differ by the qualifications and type of navigators employed. The cost can vary substantially between a nurse navigator and a lay navigator. Additionally, there are private patient navigators that can be hired, for example through an agency, in these incidences the cost is absorbed by the individual or the individual’s family member. The analysis of cost data is more multifaceted since the relevant cost components included in the analysis differ between stakeholders, compared with other previous measures discussed. For example, from a payer perspective, only costs that are potentially reimbursable according to an agreement with a third-party payer will be …show more content…
Some of the benefits to utilizing patient navigators are addressing patients’ needs such as insurance, transportation, and education material on disease-related information and building rapport with patients. Their objectives include building trust, providing psychosocial support, and empowering patients to participate in their health care. Fostering trust encourages reluctant patients to be more engaged in their health care. The relationship between the navigator and a patient strengthens social support which in turn reinforces the patient and provider relationships. In addition, patient navigators can be the mediator in those difficult situations where the patient and physician beliefs do not always align and can facilitate in helping the patient to ask the appropriate questions. In some situations, social support is provided by attending appointments with the patient and reassuring them, they were not alone and the patient navigator is available for them if they need assistance. Attending appointments helped in strengthening the patient and navigator relationship ensuring the patient is compliant in completing their treatment along with the support of what can often be a scary and ambiguous journey. Furthermore, patient navigators sometimes are able to help bridge the gap involving