INDUSTRY INSIGHT
CARE NAVIGATION
SPONSORED CONTENT
“A recurring part of having an aging parent is how quickly
unexpected health issues can come up. Care navigation is
better than a security blanket.”
—Joy McGaughran
Help During a Health Crisis
Care Navigation Eases Stress and Improves Outcomes
F
acing a health crisis such as a stroke, emergency surgery or cancer
diagnosis is a frightening and challenging journey. Imagine the burden
that would be lifted if you had an advocate to help you handle all of
the bewildering details that come with figuring out insurance coverage,
treatment and available resources.
Meet the care navigator.
Care navigators have two primary functions:
• First, they help remove challenges patients face in accessing or receiving
treatment, including communicating with insurers and providers.
• Second, they make patients aware of and anticipate additional resources
that could be helpful in their treatment.
When a resident faces a health issue, care navigators help manage his/her
care across the entire continuum – acute care, rehabilitation and therapy,
home health and home care – in partnership with the respective physicians.
Their goal is to gain access to all the resources that can help that person
return to a normal, independent life.
This is accomplished through weekly meetings between key members of
Springhill’s staff – nurses, social workers, wellness staff, administrators and
other teams such as housekeeping. They review resident challenges and
discuss how residents who have been hospitalized or are receiving postacute care are transitioning back to the community.
Confidence that care is correct
Joy McGaughran is the daughter of a Springhill resident who has
experienced care navigation for a variety of health issues over the years.
“A recurring part of having an aging parent is how quickly unexpected
health issues can come up,” Joy says. She recalls returning home after her
mother had been released from the hospital following back surgery “utterly
exhausted but with such confidence.”
As a long-distance adult child, trying to figure out what health services
are needed and how to get those services for a parent is “so scary,” Joy says.
“Care navigation is better than a security blanket.”
A clear way through a complex system
Care navigation is a term that has been gaining attention as insurers have
reduced the length of time they will cover a hospital stay and look to partner
with health care providers that achieve better patient outcomes and lower
rates of relapses and re-hospitalizations. To accomplish this requires greater
communication and follow-up between various care providers, and making
sure the patient has access to services such as transportation and home care.
It’s a task that is time-consuming and, too often, confusing.
At Springhill, care navigation begins the moment a new resident or shortterm rehabilitative patient walks through the door. For older adults, this
service is of even greater importance because often they require multiple
care providers and may have several chronic health conditions. Further, they
may not have a spouse or adult child who is on hand to advocate for them
through a health crisis.
Understanding the person
Springhill’s care navigation team hel