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Breast Patient Navigation Program

two women

To contact a Breast Patient Navigator please call 845.334.8926.

History of Navigation

Patient Navigation was founded by Dr. Harold Freedman in 1990. He established the nation’s first patient navigation program at Harlem Hospital to help the poor and the medically under served suffering from cancer.

You Are Not Alone

This is a difficult time for you. You may have questions and concerns about getting the care that you need, and many patients have requested guidance from an experienced source.

HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley® is proud to offer a patient navigation program. A patient navigator is here to help you through this difficult time. This person will make sure you get the support and help you need. We want to make sure you get the best care possible.

Goals

  • Save lives from cancer
  • Eliminate barriers to care
  • Ensure timely delivery of services for diagnosis and treatment
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Through one-on-one contact, the patient navigator has been trained to work with patients to help them solve problems and overcome barriers that might keep them from getting the care they need.

A Navigator:

  • Knows the health care system and the community of patients served
  • Works to communicate with the patient and the patient’s caregiver(s)
  • Anticipates and addresses obstacles
  • Clears the path from timely diagnosis and treatment through to resolution

Patient Navigators Can:

  • Help “navigate” patients through the health care system
  • Direct patients to health care services for timely diagnosis and treatment
  • Help patients keep track of and get to appointments
  • Help patients facilitate and streamline communication with their providers
  • Help patients complete insurance paperwork in a timely manner
  • Get financial help for patients without insurance
  • Connect patients with community resources, support,  and health care education

Our patient navigation service provides needed resources and support to patients seeking diagnosis and treatment. Our navigators understand the patients’ fears and hopes, and provide resources and assistance to achieve the best care and results possible. We can reduce or eliminate many of the barriers to care, including:

Health care barriers:  Fragmented services, lack of coordination of available services.

Financial barriers:  Insufficient insurance, overwhelming amounts of paperwork, undocumented status or lack of citizenship, lack of financial resources.

Physical barriers:  Lives excessive distances from services, lack of car or access to public transportation.

Informational/educational barriers:  Primary language is not English, inadequate health literacy, need for information about cancer care.

Social barriers:  Appointments not kept because of need for child or elder care, fear of side effects of therapy.

In 2001, the President’s Cancer Panel issued a report based on the testimony of Americans who sought treatment for cancer. The report indicated that barriers to obtaining cancer care exist for people at all socioeconomic levels, concluding the following:

  • No person with cancer should go untreated
  • No person with cancer should be bankrupted by diagnosis of cancer
  • No person with cancer should spend more time figuring out the health care system than fighting their disease

With Patient Navigation, HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley® offers a system to alleviate the confusion and difficulties that can delay cancer treatment.

Our patient navigators are certified by the National Consortium of Breast Centers, Inc., which promotes excellence in breast health care for the general public. Their choice to participate in this certification program reflects their personal and professional commitment to providing quality care. For more information about the NCBC, please visit www.breastcare.org.

Breast Health Center
111 Mary's Avenue
Thomas A. Dee Cancer Center, 1st floor
Kingston, NY 12401
Phone: 845.334.3099
To make an appointment for a mammogram, ultrasound exam or bone-density scan, call (845) 334-3088, then press Option 1.

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