JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

While the significance of care navigation in facilitating access to care within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) community has been acknowledged, there is limited research demonstrating its impact across multiple settings and the LGBTQ+ community more broadly.

Objective:

The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of specialized virtual healthcare navigation services on LGBTQ+ individuals’ ability to comprehend and access necessary care within a national cohort of commercially insured members.

Methods:

This case study is based on the experience of commercially insured members who utilized the LGBTQ+ Health Care Navigation (‘LGBTQ+ Navigation’) offering by Included Health. Included Health delivers both health care navigation and virtual care services offered as an employer-provided benefit to employees and their dependents (‘members’). The study sample included members with completed cases between January 26 and July 31, 2023. We examined the impact of navigation on member-reported outcomes. We used ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc tests and t-tests to explore the relationships between the LGBTQ+ Navigation impact score and member characteristics.

Results:

Out of 4,703 LGBTQ+ Navigation cases, 7.53% (n=354) had member-reported outcomes. A large majority of LGBTQ+ members agreed or strongly agreed that care navigation resulted in less stress (88.98%, n=315), less care avoidance (86.16%, n=305), higher confidence in finding an identity-affirming provider (92.37%, n=327), and improved ability to comprehend healthcare information (88.14%, n=312) and engage with providers (87.01%, n=308).

Conclusions:

The LGBTQ+ Navigation offering, by enhancing members' comprehension and utilization of necessary care, demonstrates potential public health utility and value.