GW Cancer Institute receives grant to establish City-wide Patient Navigation Network in Washington

The GW Cancer Institute (GWCI) was recently awarded a $2.4 million grant from the D.C. Cancer Consortium to establish and coordinate a City-wide Patient Navigation Network (CPNN) in Washington, D.C. The CPNN will create a seamless cohesive framework for cancer care coordination across the entire city.

The CPNN will ensure that all D.C. residents who require care are assisted with accessing appropriate screening services and that those with a suspicious finding, or a confirmed diagnosis of cancer, are able to access timely, coordinated, standard-of-care treatment, regardless of their ability to pay. In addition, patients will be assisted in identifying appropriate support services throughout the cancer continuum, including the post-treatment survivorship period, in order to improve health outcomes--particularly for those populations currently experiencing disparities in cancer care.

"GWCI is uniquely qualified to lead the CPNN, as the concept grew out of our NCI-funded Patient Navigation Research Program, a five-year, national, multi-center study on the effectiveness of Patient Navigation. This grant allows us to both deepen and widen city-wide efforts in cancer care coordination and will add further strength to our nationally-recognized unique model of longitudinal network navigation," said Steven Patierno, Ph.D., Executive Director of the GW Cancer Institute.

DC Cancer Consortium Executive Director Susan Lowell Butler added, "We believe that citywide navigation for people needing help with cancer is a critical step in reducing the number of people in the District who are diagnosed late, as well as mortality from cancer. This is the nation's first urban citywide navigation effort, and we're very please to support it."

GWCI will serve as the central coordinating center of the CPNN. The Network will include patient navigators stationed at the following medical centers, hospitals and cancer centers, and community sites:

The George Washington University Medical Center
Washington Hospital Center
Capital Breast Care Center
Howard University Cancer Center
Providence Hospital
Children's National Medical Center
Capital City Health Education Centers (CC AHEC)
DC Primary Care Association (DCPCA)
Unity Health Care
Nueva Vida
Mautner Project
Smith Farm for the Healing Arts
Food and Friends
DC Pediatric Palliative Care Collaboration

Patient Navigation is a patient-centered, culturally tailored intervention to help patients and their families navigate through the complex cancer healthcare labyrinth from screening to survivorship or end-of-life. It has shown promise in reducing health disparities and improving the quality of a patient's healthcare experience. CPNN will be accessible to patients diagnosed with any type of cancer and will expand the existing navigation network to additional community and clinical sites.

Source :  GW Cancer Institute