Dear Navigators,
The Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) and the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship were established from an empiric observation that navigation tactics have a positive impact on oncology care. I’m sure all of us in the field intrinsically know that the services we offer make a difference. But now, for the first time, we can provide evidence to support our hypothesis!
Our expert team of seasoned navigators on the AONN+ Standardized Metrics Task Force worked diligently over the past year to establish a set of universal, research-supported metrics to prove the impact of navigation programs. Our team identified 8 domains in which to measure 3 key areas: patient experience, clinical outcome, and return on investment. Domains include community outreach/prevention, coordination of care/care transitions, patient advocacy/patient empowerment, psychosocial support services/assessment, survivorship/end of life, professional roles and responsibilities, operations management/organizational development/healthcare economics, and research/quality/performance improvement.
In these pages, you will read about the metrics. It is our hope you will employ them at your institution, record and track results, and eventually submit your findings to AONN+. Your reports will help make it possible to evaluate the impact and value of navigation programs. This will only be possible with your participation. On behalf of all of us at AONN+, I encourage you to select 3 or 4 areas of your program to evaluate using our metrics. With a concerted nationwide effort, we will enrich the literature and ultimately learn best practices from each other in our mission to improve patient care.
Questions about the metrics or how to use them? Please do not hesitate to contact a member of our task force.
As always, thank you for your continued support, and thank you in advance for your participation in our metrics program!
Sincerely,
Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, ONN-CG
Editor-in-Chief, JONS; Program Director, AONN+
University Distinguished Service Professor of Breast Cancer; Administrative Director, the Johns Hopkins Breast Center; Director, Cancer Survivorship Programs at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins; Professor, JHU School of Medicine, Depts of Surgery and Oncology; Cofounder, Johns Hopkins Medicine. Managing Cancer at Work
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