Patient Navigation to Improve Cancer Screening in Underserved Populations: Reported Experiences,Opportunities, and Challenges |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts;2. Institute for Technology Assessment, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts;3. Massachusetts General Hospital Chelsea Healthcare Center, Chelsea, Massachusetts;4. General Medicine Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts;1. Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington;2. Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington;3. UW Medicine Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and Safety, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington;4. Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;5. Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;6. Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;7. Institute for Biomedical Informatics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;1. Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts;2. Division of Emergency Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York;3. Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;4. Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts;1. Medical School, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran;2. School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran |
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| Abstract: | Our goal is to define patient navigation for an imaging audience, present a focused selection of published experiences with navigation programs for breast and colorectal cancer screening, and expose principal barriers to the success of such programs. Despite numerous advances in the early detection of cancers, many patients still present with advanced disease. A disproportionate number are low-income minority patients who experience worse health outcomes than their white or more financially stable counterparts. Patient navigation, which aims to assist the medically underserved by overcoming specific barriers to care, may represent one solution to narrowing disparities. Related research suggests that in general, patient navigation programs that have addressed breast or colorectal cancer screening have been successful in improving screening rates and timeliness of follow-up care. However, although beneficial, navigation is expensive and may present an unmanageable financial burden for many health care centers. To overcome this challenge, navigation efforts will likely need to target those patients that are most likely to benefit. Further research to identify such patients will be critically important for improving the sustainability of navigation programs, and, in turn, for realizing the benefits of such programs in reducing cancer disparities. |
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| Keywords: | Patient navigation cancer care disparities breast cancer colorectal cancer |
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