Using Technology to Improve Patient Navigation and Equity in Cancer Care
President’s Cancer Panel Report enumerates the technology needs for successful patient navigation
Cancer care is a complex journey. Patients often need help navigating the many challenges they face. As navigation advances and the nursing shortage grows, technology must be key in supporting the patient journey.
The President’s Cancer Panel has been hard at work and recently released its findings on Enhancing Patient Navigation with Technology(1). The in-depth research discusses using technology to support navigation and improve equity in cancer care. The panel identifies four priorities and related recommendations regarding the development and use of technology for cancer patient navigation. The President’s Cancer Panel encourages continued action to enhance patient navigation and health equity through the responsible development and use of technology.
To address the common gaps in existing and developing Cancer Navigation Programs, the Panel highlights four priorities:
PRIORITY 1: Use Technology to Support Navigation Activities to Achieve Equitable Outcomes
PRIORITY 2: Ensure Equitable Patient Access to Technology That Supports Cancer Navigation
PRIORITY 3: Promote Responsible Development and Use of Technology to Support Navigation
PRIORITY 4: Maintain Privacy and Security While Facilitating Data Sharing to Support Cancer Patient Navigation
The panel’s findings are spot on. Our team at careMESH has studied numerous cancer navigation programs and has deployed technology in support of over two dozen patient navigation programs in cancer and for numerous complex patient and departmental workflows.
We and many others have observed that patient Navigation almost universally “works” to address and reduce disparities and improve the patient experience. The best programs also generate metrics that show other process improvements (like faster time to treatment). Some even develop evidence for cost improvements or other value returned to the health system. And occasionally scintillating indicators suggest better outcomes (quality) might be in the making for navigated patients.
Undoubtedly, technology can significantly improve navigation programs, providing the support to deliver improved patient experience and equity efficiently and providing strong business and health outcome benefits.
However, the simple truth is that IT resources for health systems are almost always in very high demand. Navigation programs often need help with IT delays and priority needs elsewhere.
Even when IT resources are available, adding fundamental tools to provide even modest navigation technology support in the EHR (like adding task lists, assessments, and straightforward dashboards with tracking) typically takes over a year to develop and deploy. The more advanced programs in the US usually have ten-plus person-years of historical engineering development and support (totaling millions of dollars). Navigators in those programs still typically spend inordinate amounts of time doing “scut work” like manual workflow steps, minimal task automation, chasing medical records, working the Fax machine, and listening to endless “muzak” while on hold on the phone. Tools built into the EHR tend to be relatively rigid and have a relatively narrow use-case capability. For example, editing, updating, or creating new task lists typically requires working anew with IT -- and adding new capabilities like sharing task tracking across different organizations always does. Even with tools integrated over several years, sophisticated navigation operations often use spreadsheets and other un-connected tools and processes to flesh out needed capabilities.
Both established and growing navigation programs would do themselves well by evaluating third-party navigation tools and EHR add-ins.
careMESH NAVIGATE was developed to provide seamless, comprehensive navigation support that is fully integrated into Epic, Cerner, and other EHRs. In addition to being significantly more feature-rich and capable than anything built into the EHR, deployment can be:
Incredibly Fast (average careMESH deployment is ~45 days. Fastest was 4 days)
Significantly less expensive than work done in-house
Much more capable out of the box (including automated digital health messaging within and across disparate organizations, nationwide communications, sophisticated visualizations, workflows, reports, reminders, tasking, workgroup hand-offs, care coordination, and much more.)
More flexible in day-to-day operations (including the ability to create entirely new programs within a day or so, the ability for navigators to create and assign new tasks “on the fly,” and the ability to customize for every single patient’s needs)
More comprehensive and versatile (Leverage capabilities to improve outbound and inbound referrals. Start quickly with a single patient cohort or at the department level, or manage dozens of interrelated programs across a whole health system. Extend your program(s) to collaboratively navigate the same patients across yours and several health organizations or community organizations, including tiny ones with little or no IT support, including those completely unrelated to your own health system -- and more.
Key takeaways:
Technology can be a powerful tool to improve patient navigation and equity in cancer care.
The President's Cancer Panel has identified four priorities for developing and using technology in cancer patient navigation.
These priorities include promoting technology to improve communication and coordination between patients and providers and developing and using technology to collect and analyze data to improve patient navigation programs.
Consider both technology that can be leveraged and added to your current EHR and third-party technologies.
1) Enhancing Patient Navigation with Technology to Improve Equity in Cancer Care: A Report to the President of the United States from the President’s Cancer Panel. Bethesda (MD); 11/2024: https://prescancerpanel.cancer.gov/reports-meetings/enhancing-patient-navigation-2024
