Navigators are trained individuals who provide support and guidance to help improve patients' access to healthcare. Patient navigators mentor individuals with chronic conditions and help develop patient-centered medical homes. Community navigators address health disparities through outreach and help form new partnerships. The four key commitments of navigators are access to care, service, community engagement, and volunteer development. A patient-centered medical home facilitates partnerships between patients, physicians, and families to provide safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable care. Patients want high-quality technical and compassionate care, information, choices, kindness, privacy, respect, care coordination, and inclusion. Navigators aim to promote patient, community, and organizational

1. Principles of Navigation
Orienting Your Compass for Service

2. Who Are Navigators?
“Navigators are trained, culturally
sensitive, and committed individuals
who provide support and guidance to
individual patients, and within their
community, to help improve access to
health care.”

3. Patient Navigators
• Support and mentor individuals with chronic
health conditions;
• Support the development of a Patient-
Centered Medical Home;
• Help in the development and integration of a
skilled-volunteer base to strengthen the
support offered to patients.

4. Community Navigators
• Address health disparities through health
education, outreach, & enrollment initiatives;
• Support the development of new collaborative
partnerships to address community health;
• Help in the development and integration of a
skilled-volunteer base to strengthen the
promotion of community health.

5. 4 Key Commitments of Navigators
Access to Care
Commitment to Service
Community Engagement Volunteer Development

6. What is a
Patient-Centered Medical Home?
“A Patient-Centered Medical Home is a
health care setting that facilitates
partnerships between individual
patients, their personal physicians,
and when appropriate,
the patient’s family.”
Source: Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative: http://www.pcpcc.net/content/joint-principles-patient-centered-medical-home

7. 7 Principles of a
Patient-Centered Medical Home
Relationships
Quality and Safety
Value Whole-Person Approach
Team Approach
Care Coordination &
Integration
Access to Care

8. 6 Core Elements to the Delivery of
Quality Patient Care
Safe
Effective
Patient-Centered Timely
EfficientEquitable (Fair)

9. 9 Things Patients Want From Their
Health Care Providers
High-Quality
Technical Care
(Clinical)
Information
Choices Kindness
PrivacyAutonomy
RespectCare Coordination Inclusion

10. The Principle Objective of Navigators
Health & Wellness
Patient Community
Self
Organization

11. Some Strategies to Achieve Patient
Health & Wellness
Develop Creative
Ways to Interact
Think Holistically
& Systematically
Think of the
Needs of the
Patient
Create Ways to
Make Information
Available
Help Patients Find
a Care Partner
Help Patients
Maintain Progress
Notes
Provide
Medication
Training
Incorporate the
Arts into Healing

12. Respectfully Ask Tough Questions
What are the barriers to
health and healing?
How can we remove
those barriers?
How can I assist?
How can
volunteers assist?
How can we measure
our success?
What can we
change?
What can I change?
What are we
doing right?

13. Resources
Putting Patients First: Best Practices in Patient-Centered
Care by Susan P. Frampton & Patrick Charmel (Amazon)
National Association of Community Health Centers
Publications & Resources
Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative
http://www.pcpcc.net/
Through the Patient's Eyes: Understanding and Promoting Patient-Centered Care
Editors: Margaret Gerteis; Susan Edgman-Levitan; Jennifer Daley; Thomas L. Delbanco (Amazon)
Michigan Primary Care Association
Resource Library

14. Questions?