Patient Navigator Program
Located in 7 emergency departments (ED) and 1 inpatient site of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Patient Navigators offer peer-based, culturally sensitive education and support to patients who need additional support to navigate the health care system.Specifically, Patient Navigators connect patients to primary and specialty care follow up appointments as well as insurance/financial assistance as needed In addition, Patient Navigators follow up post-discharge to support appointment adherence and help patients enroll onto the patient portal to access telehealth resources.
Between December 2008 to March 2021, Patient Navigators supported over 230,000 patients in seven NYP ED settings. Seventy-eight percent of the nearly 197,000 patients for whom an appointment was scheduled attended the scheduled appointment and 94% of the nearly 84,000 patients without a primary care provider had an appointment with a new provider upon discharge. These outcomes suggest that an ED-based Patient Navigator Program is an effective approach to connect patients with the clinical and social services they need and, ultimately, to better manage their health.