Abstract C094: Healthcare use patterns among patients with cancer referred to patient navigation

Abstract Background: Recent health policies enable reimbursement to screen individuals with health-related social needs (HRSN) and patient navigation (PN) services, aiming to reduce health inequities. For patients with cancer, experiencing HRSN following diagnosis may impact healthcare use and lead to adverse health outcomes. We examined associations between HRSN and healthcare use among cancer patients referred for patient navigation services. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis of 23,540 oncology patients referred for patient navigation services between 2021–2023. Patients were categorized into: (1) contacted with ≥1 HRSN, (2) contacted with no HRSN, and (3) no contact/HRSN unknown. Four healthcare use outcomes were assessed: emergency department (ED) visits, inpatient (IP) admissions, 24-hour cancellations, and no-show oncology visits. Adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (Cis) were estimated using multivariable negative binomial regression, controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity, insurance, and marital status. Results: Compared to patients contacted with no HRSN, those with ≥1 HRSN had significantly higher rates of ED visits (aIRR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.05–1.25), inpatient admissions (aIRR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.09–1.26), 24-hour cancellations (aIRR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.16–1.36), and no-show oncology visits (aIRR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.38–1.68). Patients with no PN contact/HRSN unknown also had elevated risk of inpatient admissions (aIRR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.07–1.23), cancellations (aIRR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.17–1.35), and no-shows (aIRR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.16–1.41), though their ED visit rate was not significantly different (aIRR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.89–1.00). Disparities persisted across subgroups: Black patients had higher ED (aIRR: 1.48) and no-show (aIRR: 1.86) rates, and patients insured by Medicaid had the highest burden of missed appointments (aIRR: 2.89; 95% CI: 2.17–3.84) compared to those with commercial insurance. Conclusions: Our findings help quantify the implications of HRSN on healthcare use among patients with cancer who are referred for patient navigation services. Higher adverse healthcare use among patients with HRSN suggest support the need for systematic HRSN screening, as well as resources to increase the capacity of patient navigation services to reach all patients. Reducing HRSN may help prevent care disruption and reduce health inequities among individuals with cancer. Future studies are warranted to quantify the cost of care between cancer patients with versus without HRSN. Citation Format: Sakshith Reddy Chintala, Corinne McDaniels-Davidson, Jesse Nodora, Katheryn Rodriguez, Ann Valentine, Danielle McLaughlin, Matthew P. Banegas. Healthcare use patterns among patients with cancer referred to patient navigation abstract. In: Proceedings of the 18th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities; 2025 Sep 18-21; Baltimore, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2025;34(9 Suppl):Abstract nr C094.