A Patient Advocate or Navigator provides direct assistance to patients at a health care or long term care facility. Guides patients in understanding their options and making important decisions about their treatment plans and medical costs; provides emotional support; and serves as a liaison with health care providers.
Full-time, primarily in person with virtual and worksite support Job Summary The Health Care Navigator is a Registered Nurse who helps patients successfully move through every stage of their health care journey. Serving as a consistent, trusted point of contact, the Navigator listens to patient needs, identifies effective care pathways, removes barriers, and coordinates the people and resources needed to carry the plan forward. This role combines RN clinical judgment with the persistence, resourcefulness, and compassion of an exceptional care coordinator. Working closely with clinic providers, the Navigator turns care plans into clear next steps and follows each item through completion. The Navigator also assesses and triages patient needs through phone, email, secure portal or telehealth messages, and in-person contact; conducts outreach at ProVia worksites; and connects patients with appropriate clinical and community resources. The clinic will be owned by ProVia and developed and operated by Branches Healthcare. The Navigator must protect the trust that makes this model work: clinical information is confidential and is not shared with the employer without the patient's appropriate authorization, except as required by law.
Patient Experience Commitment:
The Navigator owns the next step until the loop is closed. Patients should feel heard, supported, and confident that someone is actively helping them move forward. Going above and beyond means anticipating barriers, communicating before the patient has to ask, and staying engaged through resolution. Essential Duties and Responsibilities Essential duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: Patient Experience and Relationship-Based Care Serve as a trusted guide. Build ongoing relationships with patients and families, listen carefully to their goals and concerns, and help them understand what comes next. Make the journey feel manageable. Break complex care into clear steps, set expectations, provide timely updates, and reduce avoidable confusion or delay. Advocate with persistence. Resolve handoff problems, elevate gaps, and remain involved until the patient has a clear and workable path forward. Go above and beyond. Anticipate barriers, communicate before the patient has to ask, and take practical extra steps that improve the patient's experience and care. Protect trust and choice. Maintain confidentiality, honor patient preferences, and reinforce the separation between clinical care and the patient's employment relationship. Care Navigation and Care Plan Execution Translate plans into action. Collaborate with providers to convert clinical recommendations into specific tasks, timelines, education, monitoring, and follow-up. Close the loop. Track referrals, tests, results, appointments, medication questions, and follow-up needs; confirm completion and escalate unresolved items. Coordinate across settings. Support transitions after emergency department visits, hospitalizations, rehabilitation, home health, and specialty care so the clinic has the information needed for timely follow-up. Identify effective care pathways. Connect patients with the appropriate provider, diagnostic service, specialist, community resource, or higher level of care based on clinical direction, urgency, and patient circumstances. Remove barriers. Identify transportation, scheduling, financial, technology, health-literacy, caregiver, and other obstacles and help the patient and team develop realistic alternatives. Reinforce understanding. Use teach-back and approved education to explain conditions, medications, warning signs, self-management steps, and when to seek additional care. Support chronic and preventive care. Conduct outreach for care gaps, chronic condition follow-up, screenings, immunizations, and provider-directed population-health priorities. Conduct worksite outreach. Visit designated ProVia worksites for patient check-ins, education, screening support, clinic introductions, and care-navigation activities. Meet patients where they are. Adapt outreach to varied shifts and job settings while maintaining confidential conversations and clear boundaries between clinical care and employment functions. RN Triage and Responsive Access Assess incoming needs. Use RN judgment and approved protocols to evaluate symptoms, urgency, risk factors, and the appropriate response to questions received by phone, email, secure portal or telehealth message, or in person. Direct patients to the right level of care. Arrange clinic evaluation, provider consultation, home-care guidance under approved protocols, urgent care, emergency services, or other resources based on the assessment. Recognize and escalate risk. Identify red flags, activate emergency procedures when needed, and promptly involve a provider for conditions outside protocol, unclear presentations, or changes in status. Document thoroughly. Record the assessment, protocol used, advice or disposition, provider communication, patient understanding, and required follow-up in the electronic health record. Communicate and follow through. Provide clear next steps and safety-net instructions, prioritize messages by urgency, and ensure timely acknowledgment and resolution. Manage the navigation workload. Organize active cases by urgency and complexity, document contacts and outcomes, and use reliable tracking so no patient is lost to follow-up. Strengthen clinic resources. Maintain knowledge of local and regional services and use patient feedback to improve workflows, partnerships, access, and team readiness. Other Job Requirements Include but are not limited to the following: Education and licensure: Graduate of an accredited registered nursing program with a current, unrestricted Ohio RN license, or eligibility to obtain the license before starting.
Experience:
Care coordination, case management, patient navigation, transitions of care, population health, primary care, ambulatory care, or telephonic triage experience preferred. Home health or community nursing experience is strongly preferred.
Clinical judgment:
Ability to assess needs, recognize changes in condition, prioritize urgency, and act within RN scope, approved protocols, and provider direction.
Communication and technology:
Strong written, telephone, virtual, and in-person communication skills, with proficiency in electronic health records, secure messaging, telehealth, and task tracking.
Travel and credentials:
Ability to travel to ProVia worksites as needed. Valid driving credentials and Basic Life Support certification are required according to clinic policy. Physical Requirements The role requires sitting, standing, walking, frequent communication and technology use, local travel, and moving routine clinical or outreach supplies. Reasonable accommodations may be available to enable qualified individuals to perform the essential functions.