Our initial intent for financial navigation was to provide a resource for MOQC practices to help their patients who struggle with financial burdens. We recently broadened our work in discussions with the Patient Advocate Foundation, or PAF, a national non-profit organization that provides case management services and financial aid to Americans with chronic, life-threatening, and debilitating illnesses. We will now focus on understanding how we can build a support system for patients’ and caregivers’ social AND financial needs that stem from social determinants, or rather social drivers, of health. MOQC and PAF are currently looking for the right home, a funding agency to which we will submit this proposal.
In the meantime, we are working on a short-term pilot project that would be funded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. If awarded, this project will start on May 1 and end on September 30. It will support the following activities:
- We will invite medical and gynecologic oncology practice members who are currently acting as financial navigators from all MOQC regions to participate in a focus group. Two focus groups will be scheduled. Each focus group will last from 1.5 to 2 hours.
- During the focus groups, MOQC, in partnership with the Institute for Social Research, will lead a conversation aimed at understanding the current state of financial navigation services within our practices, what is needed, and what our practices can share with the rest of the collaborative.
- We will then complete a report based on the discussions. We will also include a visual representation of the themes identified during the focus groups. The report will contain recommendations for further action focused on enhancing financial navigation services in the state of Michigan.
Please nominate yourself and your colleagues by sending an email to moqc@moqc.org.
Last, this group worked on creating resources for your practices, patients, and caregivers. If you visit the MOQC website, you can now find flyers about Medicaid/Medicare and COBRA. These resources may be ordered in your patient’s language of care. The financial navigation group welcomes your ideas about what other informational fliers about financial navigation services might be useful to you. Please share your ideas with Natalia Simon at nsimon@moqc.org.