Visit the DAC-SP Early Detection Blueprint to start your own early detection program for cognitive impairment
DAC-SP co-created and implemented a Brain Health Navigator model with 6 sites in the U.S. to help provide timely care for patients with cognitive decline in primary and specialty care settings.
The Brain Health Navigator (BHN) toolkit provides downloadable resources for you to use in your local healthcare system. These tools are prototypes and are intended to be used in conjunction with one another. These tools vary in utility depending on where you are in the BHN journey and can be used iteratively throughout the implementation process. Since all healthcare systems are unique, these resources can be adapted to various clinical approaches and serve as a starting point for developing your own BHN program.
This PDF provides an overview of The Brain Health Navigator (BHN) toolkit, and its provided resources for to use in your local healthcare system.
The resources in this section include a Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) Checklist, along with a Workflow Overview Template, and Workflow Examples.
Creating Workflows
Billing & Business Case
Website
Overview of the specific tasks and clinical interactions at various stages of diagnostic assessment and care that could be included in your workflow and may inform your business model archetype.
Four system archetypes of how the BHN role might be implemented in your local healthcare system including examples of strategies for billing and revenue generation.
Reference guide with possible billing codes relevant to early detection and care coordination, including a helpful Q&A.
“It's possible but it's all about the workflow!”
To improve the pre-diagnosis journey by developing a brain health navigator program, modeled after oncology and diabetes, and piloted with existing forward-leaning health systems with real-world experience.
In previous DAC-SP programs, a boundary spanning role was created to facilitate the implementation of cognitive assessments and blood biomarkers into clinical workflows. This BHN program was designed to expand upon those initial learnings and develop a BHN model focused on sustainability and scalability.
PCPs need simple solutions and incentives
“What I've heard repeatedly from [PCPs] is they want an ‘easy button.’ They want something they can just click that then sends the referral and it gets dealt with somewhere else.” — Dr Donna Wilcock
Many patients are lost in the system
“The system doesn't know they have mild cognitive impairment cases. If they have dementia, the health care system misses 80% of them.” — Dr. Malez Boustani
Families desperately need help
“If I had a BHN, I would use them to connect families to community resources, get them the emotional support and education." — Dr. Jacki Raetz
There is a need for boundary spanning role(s) to benefit patients and systems
DAC-SP recruited a diverse range of practices to ensure wide applicability across the US healthcare system.
Thank you to our collaborators who helped co-develop and pilot the tools and processes in real-world settings
Photo Caption: The team behind the Brain Health Navigator (BHN) program, while on a Zoom call.