Lay Navigator Program Cuts Cancer Care Costs

A presentation at the Association of Community Cancer Centers National Oncology Conference cited data showing that a lay navigator program helped reduce cancer care costs in a health system.

During her presentation, Gabrielle B Rocque, MD, assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, explained how navigation is going to become a key part of patient-centered, value-based cancer care in the near future.

Through a CMS Health Care Innovation Challenge Grant Award, the University of Alabama at Birmingham developed Patient Care Connect, a navigator program that helps patients with cancer make the most appropriate treatment choices, reduce utilization of ineffective services, and maximizes appropriate use of health care resources.

As part of Patient Care Connect, navigators were trained through intensive educational and clinical setting training. Lay navigators helped patients to identify resources, recognize their symptoms, and understand their treatment options and plan. Navigators also worked to get patients better access by connecting them with health care providers, scheduling appointments, and integrating care coordination.

Between March 2013 and December 2016, the Patient Care Connect program enrolled 10,000 patients and completed 88,000 patient contacts. During this timeframe, navigators took on an average of 152 patients and completed 275 patient contacts per quarter.

Results of data collected during this time period showed that the program reduced ED visits by 6%, hospitalizations by 8%, and ICU visits by 10%.

Additionally, the researchers found that the program helped reduce health care utilization at the end of life through navigator-initiated advanced care planning.