Healthcare Economics

Sarah Cannon’s San Antonio market was seeking a way to effectively improve key quality and operational navigation metrics on their monthly Navigation Market Scorecard.

Timeliness of care is of vital importance in breast cancer treatment.

Optimizing patient care, treatment delivery, and data-capturing forms have proved to be effective tools.

Waiting for diagnosis for more than a week can increase anxiety and uncertainty for patients and families because a cancer diagnosis is viewed as a threat to future health and life.

Community Care Physicians (CCP) is a practice located in Upstate New York that comprises 430 providers and 30+ subspecialties.

In February 2019, to more fully support prostate cancer patients with sexual health and urinary recovery posttreatment, Sutter Medical Center Sacramento implemented a nurse navigator to facilitate patient participation in a survivorship support group and education around symptom management.

The value of staff development and continuing professional development for support staff (medical assistants, front desk staff, and new patient coordinators) in the oncology setting is often overlooked.

The program began with a general focus navigation model (breast, lung, gastrointestinal cancers), then transitioned to a breast navigation only model in March 2018 due to patient volumes and navigator bandwidth.

Healthcare disparities studies rely on socioeconomic factors to explain physical barriers, such as the inability to pay for services or transportation.

Oncology nurse navigators and administrative staff reported spending more than half their daily shifts in some way managing incoming calls and the backlog of voicemails.

One recent study revealed that lung cancer was the most common cancer among those uninsured.

As oncology care shifts away from fee-for-service, understanding alternative payment models is crucial for navigators.

Metastatic breast cancer patients report a lack of information tailored to their diagnosis.

Patient navigation programs assist in the management of patients with complex medical problems.

According to a 2013 Institute of Medicine report, cancer treatment costs are escalating rapidly and resulting in less affordable care options for patients.

As the healthcare landscape is evolving from independent hospitals to large healthcare systems, the challenge of standardizing programs such as navigation becomes paramount to ensuring best practices and service consistency.