Oncology nurse navigators can help patients experience less stress and get access to timely care. 

In 2024, Medicare began to pay for the essential services of oncology nurse navigators, which is excellent news for cancer patients. 

Why it matters

Oncology nurse navigators are clinically licensed professionals that help coordinate all care around a patient during cancer treatment. Navigating patients brings a wide range of emotional, clinical, and financial benefits to patients. More than 91% of cancer survivors say that access to a nurse navigator is very important, but only 54% of patients have encountered a navigator. Wider availability of nurse navigation should lead to more patients, of all backgrounds, experiencing less stress and greater access to timely care.
 

What is the role of an oncology nurse navigator? 

Oncology nurse navigators are clinically credentialed and work 1:1 with patients and act as a bridge to the care team to:  

• Coordinate patient care 
• Help keep track of how the person with cancer is doing 
• Help manage symptoms and adverse events 
• Educate about disease, testing, treatment, and what to expect 

Navigators help patients contend with cancer’s financial burden  

“Financial toxicity” is the term used for the cost of cancer medications, treatments, transportation and time patients need to take off work.  

• A study of 2018 data found that adult cancer patients and their caregivers spend between $180 to $2600 per month out-of-pocket on treatment.  
• New cancer drugs can cost $20,000 a month, increasing patients’ out–of–pocket costs.  
• Approximately 55% of cancer drugs introduced between 2019 and 2023 cost at least $200,000 a year. 
• The financial fallout from treatment, lost work and loss of insurance can last for years.

As Clara Lambert, BBA, Oncology Financial Navigator at Munson Medical Center, explains in a recent Journal of Oncology Navigation and Survivorship article: “[Financial toxicity] doesn’t only apply to people who don’t have insurance, it applies to people who do.”  

With the growth of biomarker testing and personalized medicine, there’s no sign that cancer treatments will become less expensive.  

But navigation can help.  

The Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators trains navigators on copay assistance programs, and how to appeal insurance decisions and access clinical trials. 

One study found that cancer patients and their families who receive financial navigation saved about $2,500 each. A 2024 study found that working with navigators significantly decreased cancer patients’ financial distress.

Nurse navigators ensure patients get access to timely, advanced care 

Nurse navigators help patients find their way through fragmented care delivery systems.  

And with the advent of precision medicine, nurse navigators may take on new roles to ensure greater access to biomarker testing and precision medicine treatment.  

Biomarker testing is increasingly a first step in identifying if a patient would benefit from a targeted therapy. Yet many patients don’t receive these tests or treatments due to clinical practice gaps.  

Nurse navigators are stepping in to help: 

• Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, introduced the role of Oncology Nurse Navigator, Genomics (ONNG). Like a traditional navigator, the ONNG educates patients, coordinates care, helps find financial resources and stays on top of biomarker test results.  
• Intermountain Health has a well-organized in-house genomic testing system. Nurse navigators play a critical role in matching patients with certain biomarkers to clinical trials and getting insurance approval for personalized treatment. 
• At Aster Cancer Center, a community-based cancer center in New Jersey, nurse navigators and molecular test processors work side-by-side within a precision medicine stewardship team.

The bottom line

Payment rules often dictate the way clinical care is delivered. Before the CMS rule, nurse navigation was paid for through short-term grants. This new steady source of funding via Medicare means services should be more accessible, helping patients gain understanding of their cancer treatment’s complexity and cost.

Amplity Comms offers premium content + audience access to critical oncology care networks, including JONS: Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship.