« Patient Navigators are becoming more commonplace in hospitals these days. Previously only used incancer settings or with low-income patients with barriers to care, navigators skills are now being employed in many areas of healthcare, so the job outlook for patient navigation is looking good. Starting October 1st, a new breed of patient navigators will even be helping out with the Affordable Care Act’s healthcare insurance marketplace and bring another new definition to the role.

Harold P. Freeman, MD originally founded the patient navigator role in 1990, and his studies found that the use of navigation helped five-year survival rates in breast cancer increase from 39 to 70 percent. Some hospitals have spread their oncology nurse navigator programs to other clinical areas like open heart patients, while others try to focus on Medicaid patients with chronic diseases. »

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