Patient navigation: helping people through the health system maze
24 October 2025
Patient navigation programmes expand access to best-practice care and improve health outcomes. But uneven implementation is limiting their impact.
All over the world, health systems are facing unprecedented pressures, including rising demand for services, widespread workforce shortages and deep-rooted inequalities in access to care. These pressures will require radical policy change to make high-quality care available to all while keeping spending levels sustainable. And interventions such as patient navigation programmes will be key to achieving that change.
Patient navigators guide people through the health system and the stages of care: point of suspicion, diagnosis, treatment and follow‑up. They frequently bridge the gap between people’s clinical interactions and their personal lives, helping address barriers to care while supporting their physical, practical and emotional needs. They have varied personal experiences and/or professional backgrounds. They may be qualified professionals (e.g. nurses or social workers), peers (e.g. someone who has lived with a condition) or trained lay people.
Over the past three decades, patient navigation has evolved as a strategy to help streamline the care pathway, reduce inequalities and improve the overall quality of care. But widespread implementation of dedicated programmes is still far from a reality.
A platform for optimising patient navigation can help reduce costs, create efficiency for health systems, and ensure that navigators meet the needs of the people they support.
The potential of patient navigation
Patient navigation programmes help reduce costs for both individuals (e.g. by assisting with applications for financial support) and health systems (e.g. by alleviating the workload of other healthcare professionals). For example, the Texas‑based Colorectal Cancer Male Navigation Program observed net healthcare savings of USD $1,148 per participant over two years by addressing the unique needs of the target population, including translation services, transportation and appointment scheduling assistance.
But the number and scope of studies on patient navigation is limited. And because the responsibilities of patient navigators vary across different settings, further research is needed to establish their role and understand the facilitators and barriers to the effective and sustainable implementation of patient navigation programmes. Research must consider factors at different levels:
- individual: examining communication and working relationships across and within different settings, teams and providers
- organisational: evaluating how institutional infrastructure supports team collaboration, and the level of buy-in and leadership from key stakeholders
- system: determining the requirements for sustainable funding; supportive policy, laws and professional regulation; and robust education, training and professional standards.
Collating data on these factors will create a platform for optimising patient navigation; this can reduce costs, improve health system efficiency and ensure that navigators meet the needs of the people they support.
The positive effect of patient navigation
Chronic conditions are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide; cancer alone is expected to cost health systems USD $25.2 trillion from 2020 to 2050. The potential of patient navigation to deliver coordinated and timely care for people with chronic conditions is significant.
At Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina, US, a navigation team was established in 2017 to assist people who had been treated for a heart attack. Each patient was assigned a navigator to facilitate timely access to follow-up care, promote self-management and address concerns. Within one year, 30-day hospital readmission rates after discharge fell by almost 50%. There were also improvements in survival and an increase in patients keeping follow-up appointments.
Patient navigation offers a golden opportunity to support the transition to person-centred care, which has been directly associated with a range of improvements in patient experience, care quality and health outcomes.
There are a number of examples of successful patient navigation in cancer care, too. Since late 2023, the Australian government has committed AUD $166 million to establish the Australian Cancer Nursing and Navigation Program, which includes a telephone navigation service for people diagnosed with cancer. The service connects people with cancer, their families and carers with high-quality and culturally safe support and information. The service also makes referrals to cancer nursing services, non-governmental organisations, primary healthcare, First Nations health services and peer support, financial support and counselling. In 2024–25, for children and young adults affected by cancer, the navigation service provided over 13,000 cases of navigation support and over 2,400 instances of counselling support. Almost 2,000 referrals were also made to other services to ensure that families had any additional support they needed.
In Alberta, Canada, a Cancer Patient Navigation Program assists people with cancer and their families in transitioning between care providers, accessing resources and support programmes, and overcoming barriers to care. It caters for people in rural areas, adolescents and young adults, and Indigenous people. Since the programme started over a decade ago, it has supported over 40,000 people. Over 90% of appointments are held virtually, which has also saved the health system over CAD $1 million by reducing emergency department visits.
Concerted action is needed
Many people want to take a more active role in their healthcare. Patient navigation offers a golden opportunity to support the transition to person-centred care, which has been directly associated with a range of improvements, including in patient experience, care quality and health outcomes.
Key factors for effective patient navigation include establishing core training standards, sustainable funding and governance as well as comprehensive evidence and consensus-driven guidance. To help integrate these factors into practice, formal patient navigation programmes should be developed where they do not already exist, and current programmes should be optimised by: engaging communities and health systems in their design and delivery, integrating digital technologies, and tailoring approaches to individual needs.