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MD Anderson Cancer Center will be providing up to 4,000 area Hispanics guidance on managing the healthcare system. It’s part of a federally-mandated study. Houston Public Radio’s Capella Tucker reports.
It’s a four year study looking at Hispanics on Medicaid and how they access the medical system. Doctor Isabel Torres is with the center for research on minority health. She says they want to know if patient navigators would help Hispanics access the health care system more for preventive screenings and other care.
“Patient navigators are trained in a whole series of areas like cultural competence, access to care, this person in essence will walk the patient or participant through the medical care system.”
Lucy Moreno has signed up for the study. She understands the difficulties of accessing health care when her mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
“It was very difficult it was my mother that had ovarian cancer and I had never heard of ovarian cancer.”
Moreno is looking forward to having better information should cancer strike her family again. MD Anderson is one of six hospitals nationwide taking part in the study. Capella Tucker, Houston Public Radio News.