A new cancer care-navigation model implemented by Vidant Health gives patients and families one point of contact to aid in coordinating scheduling and eliminating fears, barriers and concerns associated with cancer treatment.

Through the model, Vidant Health Cancer Care Navigators aid in coordinating all the issues and scheduling a patient may have to keep up with as a result of his or her diagnosis, said Judy Humphries, the cancer care navigator at the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center. The navigators are the one point of contact that a patient and their family can have to ask questions or express concerns and anxieties they may experience. They help patients and their families learn to live and cope with cancer, Humphries said.

“It’s that one person they can always get up with and depend on,” Humphries said. “Any problem, any issue that might prevent them from getting treatment they need, my role is to help them eliminate those barriers to treatment. We look at the whole person and family. It’s a family disease — everyone that’s been involved with cancer knows this.”

When a person is diagnosed and becomes a patient at the Cancer Center, there’s a team of professionals they work with, Humphries said. This ranges from front desk personnel who coordinate appointments to nursing staff that work with administering chemo and other treatments to the physician assistants and surgeons, if a patient requires surgery. The patients also work with their primary healthcare provider. The navigator helps the patient keep up with appointments, surgeries and treatments from the professionals. That person also helps coordinate care between the various disciplines — radiation oncology, surgical oncology, medical oncology, pathology, radiology and other specialists—ensuring that communication is maintained and assisting patients in receiving care that is timely, cost-effective, specialized and individualized, according to a Vidant Health press release.

Humphries said the navigator is also someone the patient may open up to. A patient may mention a concern or symptom to the navigator that they may not tell their doctors or nurses about. This relationship can be the difference between the patient living with a symptom or having it relayed back to their healthcare provider, Humphries said. The navigator also helps patients through any psychological or mental stress associated with being diagnosed or treated. This could include directing a patient to a free program offered at the Cancer Center, Humphries said.

“If you go to a specialist and it’s new and everything is new and all the words and tests are new and you’re devastated about having cancer and you find out there’s a person you can depend on, think about how much that would reduce your anxiety,” Humphries said. “There are studies that show stress is detrimental to cancer.”

Navigators are also able to help patients by looking for patient assistance in the form of free drugs, copays, help with transportation and other emergency needs a family may have as a result of their cancer.

“And that’s because of the Shepard Cancer Foundation and their support from the community,” Humphries said. “Financial strain is pretty common for patients, so we’re able to fill those gaps and help them through emergency needs. We are so thankful we have the Foundation and have a way to help them with that. We’ve always done great things with our patients, but the new model has allowed us to take it up a notch. Our patients are our family — they become part of our family.”