What does taking ownership of a patient’s situation mean to you?
Being the point of contact for a patient means not only does that patient have an assigned Nurse Navigator who understands and works with the patient from the beginning. It also means everything dealing with that patient. The ordering doctor’s office, infusion centers, etc all have one point of contact, and we all work together in the care and treatment our our True Rx specialty patients.
Can you share a time you had to step in to prevent something from falling through the cracks?
We often call patients or ordering doctor’s offices if we see an issue with no claims, or updated labs needed or are proactive in getting updated PAs so no disruption happens. We work in PREVENTING issues instead of waiting for issues to happen.
We aren’t just assigned to a patient for the initial set up. We stay with the patient so any needed information etc the ordering doctor’s office needs or infusion center, we still remain the direct contact for that patient. All aspects of that patient’s care regarding their specialty infusions will start with an assigned nurse and remain with that nurse.
When something isn’t going as planned, how do you get things back on track?
Direct communication! We always strive to have a point of contact with each entity we work with. For example, name of nurse and direct contact information at the infusion centers and ordering doctor’s office so if we need anything or there is anything needed we have developed a working relationship and can quickly get answers.
How do you make sure patients don’t get lost in the system?
We have weekly reviews of all our active patients and new referrals. If one nurse has any concerns or needs feedback, we all work as a team help or give our insights and quite often will share contacts with each other or personnel that have been helpful in the past to assist with any inquiries/issues we have had.
What impact does that level of ownership have on a patient’s outcome?By having a direct contact every aspect of the patients care has a direct line access to assistance. For example, if a patient or infusion center has an issue or question with medication delivery they can call us and we know exactly what is going on, we have direct contacts to call and get needed information etc so no disruption of care happens just for “communication issues” or inability to confirm needed information.
