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Do navigators' estimates of navigation intensity predict navigation time for cancer care?
Jennifer Kate Carroll1, Paul C Winters, Jason Q Purnell
1University of Rochester Medical Center, Department of Family Medicine, Rochester, NY 14620, USA. Jennifer_Carroll@urmc.rochester.edu
Summary
Patient navigators can estimate the time needed for patient care. This helps in fairly distributing patient loads, ensuring efficient cancer care navigation. Keywords: patient navigation, cancer care, patient load, time estimation.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Healthcare Management
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Equitable patient load distribution is crucial for effective patient navigation.
- Predicting patient navigation time is essential for resource allocation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if patient navigators can accurately estimate the time required for individual patient navigation.
- To assess the factors influencing the time spent on patient navigation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 139 breast and colorectal cancer patients in a navigation trial.
- Navigators used a one-item scale to estimate patient navigation time.
- Correlation analysis between navigator estimates, patient characteristics, and actual navigation time.
Main Results:
- Navigator baseline estimates of navigation intensity accurately predicted total navigation time.
- The total number of barriers, not specific types, increased navigator time by 16% per barrier.
- Navigator estimates were independent of patient characteristics.
Conclusions:
- Navigator's estimation of intensity is a reliable predictor of navigation time.
- Findings support improved case load assignment for patient navigators.
- This can enhance the efficiency and equity of cancer care delivery.
