News Releases

Patient Navigation Pilot Program Findings Revealed at CMSA Conference

The Center for Health Affairs’ patient navigation pilot program at Lakewood Hospital, a Cleveland Clinic hospital, was the focus of “The Navigator in the Community Acute Care Hospital” poster presentation at the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) 2014 Conference and Expo.

During the conference, held on June 17 at the Cleveland Convention Center and Global Center for Health Innovation, CHAMPS Patient Experience’s Sarah Fay and Cleveland Clinic’s Mary McLaughlin-Davis revealed the key findings of The Center for Health Affairs’ patient navigation pilot program.

During this pilot program, one full-time lay navigator became a member of the interdisciplinary team at Lakewood Hospital’s emergency department and was able to increase compliance of patients with known non-adherences to their discharge plan. This intervention resulted in the following:

• Medicare patients who received navigation services experienced a 30-day readmission rate 4 percent lower than those who did not receive navigation services.
• Self-pay patients experienced similar results with those receiving navigation services demonstrating a revisit rate 5 percent lower than those who did not receive navigation services.
• Of the 1,531 patients who worked with the Patient Navigator, only 3.16 percent were readmitted.
• The 4 percent difference in Medicare 30-day readmission saved the hospital a minimum of $29,702 over a six-month period.
• The 5 percent difference in self-pay revisits equated to a savings of $127,102 over a six-month period.
• With a salary of $35,000, and a combined savings of $156,804, the navigator paid for herself in less than two months. After that her efforts contributed solely to the bottom line of the organization. The results of the pilot confirm lay patient navigation is an effective strategy for hospitals that are interested in finding ways to improve patient experience and positively impact the bottom line.

To learn more about The Center for Health Affairs’ patient navigation pilot program and how patient navigation has the capacity to improve healthcare delivery, contact Sarah Fay at sarah.fay@chanet.org or 216.255.3638.