Make healthcare navigation and care management more widely available

PAN’S POSITION

Healthcare navigation and care management should be made more widely available.

Congress and the administration should expand the availability of team-based, patient-centered care teams that help address both the health and social needs of patients.

The healthcare and social services systems in the U.S. are complex and not easy to navigate. Patients and families may not be aware of their eligibility for programs that provide financial assistance or services that are essential to staying in care, receiving social support, and maintaining health and wellness. Having professionals available to address the medical, physical, functional, emotional, financial, psychosocial, behavioral, and spiritual needs of individuals is critically important.

Value-based payment models, in addition to coordinating care, should incentivize screening patients for social needs and connecting them with needed services and education.