Welcome to CareNavigate!
Barbara Bonigli is the founder of CareNavigate. I have over 20 years of healthcare professional and personal caregiver experience in navigating systems of care as a patient advocate. I founded CareNavigate to help patients and families have a clearer direction with their care journey.
I hit many walls and barriers over the years advocating for family members and clients with complex medical conditions, mental health and developmental disabilities. I realized you have to have an advocate in order to get answers and move forward.
Having a patient advocate better positions a person with the potential to attain an improved health status. My goal is to make the care journey for patients smoother, known and understood while impacting positive health outcomes.
UNIQUE DUAL PERSPECTIVE
My personal caregiver experiences and my professional healthcare experiences have both given me a unique dual perspective on care navigation. This unique dual perspective has equipped me with the knowledge to assist others with their care needs and understand both sides of the care coin challenges.
I HAVE BEEN THERE
I have been the caregiver to family members with cancer, developmental disabilities and mental health conditions. My mother passed from kidney cancer and I have helped other family members navigate a cancer diagnosis.
I UNDERSTAND
I understand first hand what it means to be a caregiver dealing with the emotional stress of managing a catastrophic illness, multiple complex co-occuring diagnoses, multiple specialty provider appointments, treatments, medications and surgeries.
- To not know where to turn for a loved one’s needs
- To feel hopeless, helpless and scared
- To be overwhelmed, frustrated, stressed and mentally exhausted
- To have the ball dropped and the buck passed
- To be lost in the healthcare maze with no direction
- To encounter dismissive provider attitudes
MY GOAL
My goal is to help others with their care journey and utilize my healthcare navigation knowledge to make the road to recovery easier, known, understood and accessible. My intent is to educate patients on how they can become empowered, educated and elevated so that they can be an active participant in their care and achieve improved health and well being.
SOMEONE IN YOUR CORNER
It truly does take a village to make change, survive whatever struggles one is experiencing and gain mental strength, hope and resiliency to push through a crisis and move forward.
EXPERIENCE:
I HAVE OVER 20 YEARS IN THE HEALTHCARE FIELD:
Complex Medical Case Management
Healthcare Operations Management
Health Insurance
Electronic Medical Record Health Information Systems
I HAVE WORKED IN:
- A Hospital
- Doctor’s Office
- Health Insurance Company
- Social Service Agency
- NonProfit Organization
I HAVE ASSISTED WITH:
- Cancer
- Rare Genetic Disease
- Neurologic Conditions
- Orthopaedic Conditions
- Developmental Conditions
- Mental Health Conditions
EDUCATION:
- Have my Massachusetts State Health Insurance License
- Completed a Federal Advocate Navigational Training Program through the US Department of Health and Human Services.
- I graduated from Northeastern University with a BA in Economics
- Trained as a Special Needs Advocate through the Federation For Children with Special Needs
- Member of the Alliance of Professional Healthcare Advocates
- Member of the Massachusetts Association of Healthcare Advocates
- Certified by the Patient Advocate Certification Board
TRAINING:
I have completed an advocate federal fellowship navigational training program through the LEND program (lendboston.org) (Leadership, Education in Neuro-Developmental and related Disabilities) at Boston Children’s Hospital. A maternal child health program of the US Department of Health and Human Services which trains on the adult and child serving systems.
The program gives clinicians and advocates the knowledge and tools on how to service needs of families and educates on the big care service system picture. It trains a cohort of clinical and advocate professionals from different specialties on the clinical, psychological, policy and service system aspects of complex medical care and developmental disabilities.
SKILLS:
TEAM WORK
I have learned how to communicate and partner with interdisciplinary clinical teams from my professional and caregiver experiences.
PATIENT CENTERED APPROACH
- Patient Priorities and Preferences
- Tailored Individual plan
- Holistic Approach
- Cultural Competency
- Information and Education
INTEGRATED CARE
- Coordination & Integration of Care
- Access to Care
- Continuity and Transition of Care
- Improved Health Outcomes
- Care Concierge Collaboration