Postpartum care navigation programs deliver personalized interventions that address barriers to care, promote timely access, and improve treatment coordination, starting with postpartum screening and continuing through all phases of the postpartum journey, including physical therapy and wellness coaching. 

Postpartum navigators provide patients with individualized guidance, emotional support, symptom monitoring, help with appointments, and advocacy for goal-concordant care. They also collaborate with provider teams, health plans, and community organizations to facilitate access, share information, and coordinate care delivery and appropriate social services. 

Current challenges in managing postpartum care

Postpartum patients are often overwhelmed by the challenges of accessing timely care, managing symptoms, and dealing with the emotional, physical, and financial impact of becoming a caregiver. To keep patients top-of-mind, health plans and other risk-bearing groups face an additional set of challenges:

• A general lack of care and structure | The postpartum cliff is one of the most complex and hard-to-navigate periods to manage across a population and caregivers especially feel as if resources are scarce and hard to access.

• Lack of integration | Most care programs work in silos that are separate from primary care providers (PCPs), and even OB's, which is not effective. 

  
  

• Unscalable solution | Few providers and patients have access to navigation services due to implementation and scalability challenges. 

However, collaborative postpartum care navigation can support patients and care teams at pivotal touch points along the care journey while removing the psychosocial barriers that impede access and adherence.

What health plans and risk-bearing entities should look for in a postpartum navigation solution.

Effective navigation contributes to improved care quality, patient satisfaction, and reduced total cost of care. Studies consistently show that navigation programs reduce symptom burden, acute care utilization, and total costs while improving quality of life.

Here are the top considerations health plans and risk-bearing entities should look for when evaluating postpartum navigation solutions: 

• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Successful postpartum navigation solutions must foster collaboration between OB's and the navigation solution to share clinical insights and coordinate care delivery as early in a postpartum care journey as possible.

• Patient-Centered Approach: Navigation services should segment their approach to meet the unique needs and preferences of each patient, ensuring personalized, whole-person care support throughout their journey.

• Scalable Technology Solution: Leverage data-driven technology solutions that keep important information, such as patient-reported outcomes (PROs), to drive better decision-making and improve patient engagement.

• Addressing Barriers to Care: Emphasis on social determinants of health (SDOH) makes an impact on patients’ quality of care (treatment, adherence, and health outcomes).

• Deep Postpartum Expertise: Curate care plans unique to the patient by working with woman health—trained providers and resource specialists who assist patients with clinical and non-clinical needs.

By adopting a postpartum navigation solution that meets these standards, health plans and other risk-bearing entities can improve access, enhance patient outcomes, address barriers to care, and reduce the total cost of postpartum care.

Bringing postpartum navigation to scale

To deliver the benefits of postpartum navigation to as many caregivers as possible, effective navigation programs need sophisticated technology, robust data, and a compassionate, oncology-focused care team. Materna Health VIPC program pairs human guidance with software and analytics to engage patients, connect them to the right care, and provide ongoing support through targeted interventions. At Materna Health, we transform the postpartum care experience through a unique, focused care delivery model that guides and supports the entire member journey, improving access and outcomes while reducing the cost of care.