Melissa Andres Explains the Patient Navigator's Role in Eliminating Barriers

About a quarter of patients with cancer routinely access their electronic health records.

Linda Bloom, MPA, RN, OCN, highlights how tools such as audio interpretation technology and clear masks can help nurses and patients overcome communication barriers in oncology.

A smoking-duration cutoff may be a better measure for determining lung cancer screening eligibility compared with smoking pack-years.

“We’ve had periods of time where things were shut down. We do have telemedicine, that was expanded, but telemedicine doesn’t work for everyone. If you don’t have internet access, if you don’t have the ability to understand the technology….”

Clinical navigators helped increase the rate of genomic testing referrals among Black patients with prostate cancer—a group that faces significant health disparities in the care system.

Younger populations and African American patients are most impacted.