NavSTAR study featured in the Center for Health Care Strategies’ Better Care Playbook

Personalized patient navigation services can be valuable for people with co-occurring behavioral and physical health conditions ― a population that is often at a higher risk for acute care needs, hospital readmissions, and poor outcomes. A randomized controlled trial conducted by researchers at Friends Research Institute in collaboration with University of Maryland Medical Center evaluated Navigation Services to Avoid Rehospitalization (NavSTAR), an intervention designed to facilitate substance use disorder (SUD) treatment linkages and reduce hospital readmissions. The intervention augments hospital-based substance use disorder (SUD) consultation services with intensive case management and linkages to community resources post-discharge. Participants in the intervention arm had significantly fewer inpatient readmissions and were more likely to enter community SUD treatment than participants receiving usual care SUD consultation.

The Better Care Playbook recently spoke with lead researchers of the NavSTAR evaluation ― Jan Gryczynski, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist at Friends Research Institute, and Christopher Welsh, M.D., Medical Director at the University of Maryland Medical Center Substance Abuse Consultation Service ― to learn about the trial and the value of providing personalized navigation services to patients with SUD.
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