Patient Navigator

First Annual Conference of National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants (NAHAC) to Be Held Nov. 14-15; Board of Directors Announced

Conference Addresses Issues Defining Rapidly Growing Patient Advocate Profession

BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ — The National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants (NAHAC), the nation’s first professional association for people working as healthcare and patient advocates, will hold its first annual conference November 14-15 at the University of California, Berkeley Clark Kerr Campus.

Conference workshops will include topics ranging from best practices for advocacy decision-making through solving health insurance problems, working effectively with physicians, legal issues, advocacy for children, and using technology to maximize efficiency. Case studies will also be presented.

“The founding of NAHAC and this inaugural conference are major milestones on the road to formalizing our profession, creating healthcare consumer protection standards and promoting this rapidly growing field of healthcare advocacy,” says NAHAC founder Joanna Smith.

Conference presenters/topics:

Ann Tardy, Founder, LifeMoxie; Keynote Presenter: “The New World of Healthcare Advocacy — Creating It Together!”

Jeff Belkora, PhD, Director of Decision Services and Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Institute for Health Policy Studies, U.C.S.F.: “Making Good Decisions in a Family Health Crisis”

Linda Garrett, Partner, Risk Management Services: “Confidentiality and Privacy Law for Healthcare Advocates”

Gail Gazelle, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School: “Inside the Doctor’s Mind: What Every Advocate Needs to Know”

Maggie Radany, RN, Founder, Radany & Associates: “How to Solve Health Insurance Problems and Be a Hero to Your Clients!”

Dianne Savastano, Founder & President, Healthassist: “Bringing Bob Home: A Case Study in Patient Advocacy”

Elisabeth Schuler Russell, Founder & President, Patient Navigator LLC: “Inside the World of Pediatric Healthcare Advocacy”

Judith Stark, Principal, Judith Stark Consulting: “Harnessing the Power of Technology Solutions for Healthcare Warriors”

Inaugural members of the NAHAC Board of Directors:

President: Joanna Smith, CEO, Healthcare Liaison, Inc., NAHAC Founder

Vice-President: Elisabeth Schuler Russell, Founder & President, Patient Navigator LLC

Secretary: Ricka L. White-Soso, MSW, private healthcare advocate and consultant of FLW Living Well Services

Treasurer: Maggie Radany, RN, MPP, Radany & Associates, health insurance consultant and healthcare advocate

Representation of the Founding Members: Laura Weil, Director, Sarah Lawrence College Master’s Degree Program in Health Advocacy

NAHAC membership is open to individuals interested in healthcare advocacy.

For the conference brochure and more information about NAHAC visit: http://www.nahac.memberlodge.com

 SOURCE National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants

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I am frequently asked about patient advocate or navigator training programs. 

Patient navigation/advocacy is a new and emerging field.  It has come about because of the complexity, inefficiency and cost of the current American health care system.    You probably saw from my website (www.patientnavigator.com) how I came to be a patient navigator (advocate, medical mentor, cancer coach) as a second career.  You can also get a sense of the services we offer as well as the range of clients with whom we work.

 As an emerging industry, there is no clear definition or standard training to call oneself a navigator or advocate.   There are a handful of people scattered across the United States doing independent navigation in their own communities.  However, we are beginning to organize ourselves.  The National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants (www.nahac.com) was launched in August.  I was recently elected as its Vice President and we will hold our inaugural conference November 14-15 in Berkeley, California.

 There are several parts to the “navigator” landscape.

An increasing number of hospitals in the U.S. and Canada employ navigators to help patients manage their hospital stays.  Those hospitals usually require nursing degrees and frequently work with breast cancer patients (because there is funding available from private foundations such as Susan G. Komen).

The American Cancer Society trains navigators in some cities to work with underserved populations.  They get funding, in part, from the NCI program  to train navigators.   http://tinyurl.com/yhswrof

The National Institutes of Health http://crchd.cancer.gov/pnp/pnrp-index.html is funding several patient navigator pilot projects across the U.S. in underserved and minority areas and trains navigators working in those projects.  A Colorado hospital is one of those projects and they conduct training:  http://patientnavigatortraining.org/index.htm   Much of their work is based on the model set by Dr. Harold Freeman in Harlem to develop community-based navigator programs -  http://www.hpfreemanpni.org/  They offer training to groups and non-profits seeking to work to narrow disparities in access to cancer care.

I hear often from folks around the country who want to become patient navigators/advocates.   The most comprehensive training program I know of is an online training and certification launched by the University of Miami on September 11, 2009.   It is called the Healthcare Advocacy Certificate Program.   Its courses run between 3 and 8 weeks and follow each other with no break except over the Christmas holidays.  There are 9 courses and the last course ends mid-July.  The total tuition is $4995 for the program (it is not paid by course).  In addition to tuition there are resource books required for each course. The anticipated total book fees is about $300 but can vary based on where the student purchases them.   For complete information,  http://www.educationmiami.com/en/packagedetail.aspx?p=100  The point of contact at University of Miami is Carol Wilson at 305-284-6600, carol@miami.edu

Separately, Sarah Lawrence College offers a Master’s degree in patient advocacy. http://www.slc.edu/graduate/programs/health-advocacy/index.html

I learned recently of training at the University of Wisconsin at Madison for certificates in Consumer Health Advocacy   http://www.patientpartnerships.org/certificate.php

Most of us who do this work come to it through our own experiences dealing with the health care or elder care system (whether as a patient, caregiver, nurse, social worker, etc.)  There is no specific background or education that is required.  I have found that a passion for helping others, good research, communication, interpersonal and organizational skills as well as the ability to be creative in finding resources and solving problems are what it takes.  Here is a link to a guide published by Trisha Torrey about setting up an advocacy business:  http://patients.about.com/b/2009/03/31/start-a-patient-advocacy-business.htm

I am currently talking with possible navigators from across the U.S. to try to connect us.  To that end, I have formed a virtual Patient Navigator working group through LinkedIn, the professional social networking site.  Please consider joining our virtual group as we collaborate to build this profession.    All you need to do is go to www.linkedin.com  set up a profile and then ask to join the Patient Navigator group. 

 Elisabeth Russell,  Founder and President, Patient Navigator LLC  www.patientnavigator.com

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There were two very interesting stories this morning on National Public Radio regarding incentives for people to get and stay healthy.   If you’ve followed this blog, I’ve written before about my dismay that the current health reform legislative group grope is not doing anything to tackle health care spending at its core:  how to get people to assume responsibility for their health and to make lifestyle choices that will help them stay or become more healthy.   Until we change the trajectory of the obesity epidemic to lower health care spending, no insurance reforms will make a shred of difference and the country will end up sick, bankrupt and hopelessly in debt.

Apparently Safeway, the giant grocery store chain, has offered incentives for the last  5 years that directly provide insurance premium discounts to their employees to lower their cholesterol and blood pressure, exercise, lose weight, stop smoking.  These are the well-known things that reduce risk factors for preventable diseases.  The program has been very successful by all accounts.  Employees can save money, the workforce gets healthier, and Safeway’s insurance costs remain steady (even in the face of double digit premium increases every year). 

This is such an obvious solution and yet it’s controversial.  Major groups such as the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society fear discrimination.  Nonsense.  Aren’t they more interested in getting people to adopt lifestyle behaviors that might prevent them from getting heart disease and cancer in the first place?

Apparently, there is a “Safeway” amendment offered in the Senate Finance Committee legislation based on the effective model Safeway has created.

Will it survive?  I’m sorry to say, but it makes too much sense to survive.  What vested interests will benefit from a healthier population?  Not insurance companies, so that is probably the death knell right there.

Listen to the story for yourself:  http://tinyurl.com/ybgsxbd 

Thank goodness we have public radio so that thoughtful, thinking people can try to figure out what is going on away from the bloviating politicians and mindless, right-wing talk show hosts.

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