Health Navigation Fundamentals

Empowering Patient Advocates - Become a Healthcare Navigator

Take your first steps towards becoming a healthcare navigator and trusted patient advocate in the healthcare field. MSU Denver’s online, self paced, healthcare navigation training has a mission to improve health, one patient at a time with comprehensive education.

Health Navigators help patients overcome barriers to receiving quality care, including understanding insurance coverage, appointments, billing, treatment schedules, and more.

MSU Denver Students pursuing careers as Healthcare navigators will learn introductory skills necessary to the healthcare field:

• Effective communication
• Patient-centered care
• Ethical Considerations
• Problem Solving
• Cultural Competence
• Organization
• Medical Terminology
• Basics of Healthcare Systems and more.

In the Introduction to Health Navigation course, you will develop skills necessary to effectively communicate and build relationships with patients within the complex system and learn how to evaluate and locate healthcare resources and support systems concerning an individual’s health.

Successfully completing this course provides you an entry point into an in-demand career as a Health Navigator or similar position in the healthcare sector. Or you can continue on with two additional courses and sit for an exam to become certified as a Health Navigator across Colorado. From there, you can stay in the workforce and/or continue on to get a degree in Public Health at MSU Denver.

Enroll today and embark on a fulfilling journey to becoming a skilled healthcare navigator, a dedicated patient advocate, or a valued community health worker. Your future in healthcare starts with MSU Denver.

Career Pathways in Healthcare Navigation

Approximate return on investment for each academic pathway

After taking the course, the learner can immediately enter the workforce or continue education to increase the earning potential.

Pathway 1: Enter the workforce quickly. Complete the Health Navigation Fundamentals course and immediately enter the workforce with job titles like Care Managers, Community Health Workers, Care Coordinator, and Care Manager.

• The median salary is $28,703 a year.

Pathway 2: Go deeper and convert your noncredit course to credit, and take and pass two additional classes. This makes you eligible to sit for Colorado’s Health Navigation Assessment. After passing, you can apply for positions like Access Representative, Admissions Coordinator, Case Manager, Medicaid Service Coordinator, Patient Access Coordinator, Patient Access Specialist, Patient Advocate, Patient Navigator, Patient Resource Worker, and Patient Service Representative.

• The median salary is $46,920 a year.

Pathway 3: Continue your academic journey to get a degree in health, such as public health, which will allow you to increase your earning potential. Explore roles like Health Educators, Healthcare Practitioners, Health Science Technicians, Health and Environmental Scientist, Epidemiologist, Health Educator, Infectious Disease Specialist, Health Service Administrator, Healthcare Consultant, and Health Coach.

• The median salary is $65,586 a year.