The National Consortium of Breast Centers (NCBC) has announced a collaboration with the Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Institute (HPFPNI) for training healthcare navigators.
The collaboration will allow students to receive navigation training validated by a three-hour test for accredited certification as healthcare navigators, NCBC said.
Dr. Harold Freeman initiated and developed the first U.S. patient navigation model in Harlem in 1990. HPFPNI grew out of this initial effort; it was established in 2007 to provide patient navigation training that encompasses all phases of the healthcare continuum, including outreach, screening, diagnosis, treatment, and end-of-life care, according to NCBC.
The National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) has called for all breast centers to establish navigation programs by January 2015. The partnership between NCBC and HPFPNI will help centers do this, NCBC said.
The consortium's six types of breast patient navigator certifications are as follows:
- Certified navigator (CN)-BI for all technologists, from diagnostics to treatment
- CN-BM for all social workers and managers of navigators
- CN-BA for all volunteers and lay navigators
- CN-BC for all certified medical assistants, technicians, and licensed practical/vocational nurses
- CN-BP for all breast care diagnosticians, nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants, and breast care PhDs
- CN-BN for all registered nurses from breast care, diagnostic imaging, treatment, survivorship, and genetics
