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Annual Meeting Spotlight: The Future of Patient Navigation
Patient navigation has become an essential piece of the health care puzzle in the United States, where it is used to address disparities in the accessibility and affordability of health care. With the recent introduction of billing codes to cover the cost of services, patient navigation is helping patients across the cancer continuum, from screening and diagnosis to treatment and survivorship.
During "Mapping the Future of Patient Navigation," Alan Balch, PhD, will moderate a discussion with panelists Harold P. Freeman, MD, and Laura Makaroff, DO, on patient navigation, along with strategies for improving the navigation experience. The session will be held at 9:45 am central time on Monday, October 21, during the 2024 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Dr. Balch is the CEO of Patient Advocate Foundation and National Patient Advocate Foundation. Dr. Balch has more than 20 years of executive leadership in the nonprofit sector spanning multiple advocacy areas including access and affordability, health equity, prevention and early detection, and cancer research.
Dr. Freeman is CEO, president, and founder of the Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Institute in New York City. As director of surgery at Harlem Hospital, he pioneered the patient navigation concept and model, which address disparities in access to treatment, by helping poor, uninsured, and other medically underserved patients overcome barriers to timely diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases. Based on the success of Dr. Freeman's model, hundreds of health care organizations have adopted their own patient navigation programs and the Patient Navigator and Chronic Disease Prevention Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush in June 2005. Among many other accomplishments, Dr. Freeman was the founding director of the National Cancer Institute's Center to Reduce Health Disparities and is a leading authority on the interrelationships between race, poverty, and cancer.
Dr. Makaroff is a primary care physician and senior vice president of cancer prevention at the American Cancer Society (ACS), where she leads a team of public health experts and clinicians to improve cancer prevention, early detection, and survivorship. Prior to joining ACS, Dr. Makaroff served as a senior clinical advisor for the Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources Services Administration. Her professional and personal lives collided in an unexpected way when her husband, Jason, was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in 2021. She credits his diagnosis and their cancer journey with enriching her life in ways she never wanted, but always needed. As she carries on Jason’s legacy, she is raising two young boys and is more committed than ever to helping reduce the burden of cancer for patients and families around the world.