What are patient navigators doing, for whom, and where? A national survey evaluating the types of services provided by patient navigators.
Kristen J Wells, Patricia Valverde, Amy E Ustjanauskas and 2 others
PMID 28935442WHAT IT FOUND
Patient navigators most frequently provide basic navigation, such as assessing needs and educating patients.
Nurse navigators provide the most treatment support, while social workers make more referrals. Service types vary significantly by the navigator's background, the work setting, and the patient population.
Key findings
01Patient navigators most frequently performed basic navigation, with less frequent provision of treatment support, arrangements and referrals, care coordination, and clinical trials/peer support.
02Nurse navigators provided the most treatment support and clinical trials/peer support, while social worker/counselor navigators made arrangements and referrals significantly more frequently than nurse and lay navigators.
03Navigators working in hospitals provided basic navigation, treatment support, and clinical trials/peer support more frequently, whereas those in community-based organizations made more arrangements and referrals.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used a new measure with limited psychometric information. Respondent-driven sampling may have introduced selection bias, so the sample may not be representative of all patient navigators. The study did not evaluate the effectiveness of navigation services in improving patient outcomes or reducing health disparities. Data collection occurred prior to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which may have changed the scope of navigation services.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the differences in service provision as evidence that one professional background is more effective than another. The study measured what navigators did, not whether their actions improved patient health outcomes or reduced disparities.