Implementing a Pilot Patient Navigator Program to Improve Access to Infertility Care for Underserved Patients

NCT06481319 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 40

Last updated 2026-02-19

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This investigators will conduct a pilot study investigating the implementation of an infertility Patient Navigator (PN) program to mitigate challenges for underserved individuals at Boston Medical Center (BMC) seeking infertility care. The primary objective is to assess whether the PN program can significantly reduce time to completion of infertility evaluation and to initiation of fertility treatment (if recommended) for infertile patients from an underserved patient population.

The study aims are to:

1. evaluate the impact of the PN program on timelines including obtaining commercial insurance coverage for infertility, expediting labwork/imaging, weight management, and partner urology appointments, and initiating fertility treatment; and
2. ascertain the medical literacy of participants with a validated tool to assess the impact of low medical literacy on PN facilitation.

Participants will be contacted by the PN and provided with a survey instrument that will test their medical literacy. Then the PN will assist with scheduling cycle-based testing including labwork and uterine cavity evaluation, the partner's urology appointment, the patient's appointments such weight management/nutrition referral, mammograms (if indicated by age), and insurance counseling if the participant's current insurance does not cover infertility diagnostic testing and treatment. These tasks are part of pursuing fertility care at BMC.

Duration of evaluation and time to treatment in age-matched control patients from the year prior that did not have PN services will be utilized as a comparison group.

Regression analyses will be conducted to explore the association between utilization of a PN and pregnancy rates, considering potential confounding factors.

Establishment of the pilot program will enable the investigators to apply for a larger institutional patient care grant going forward. Strategies developed through this research can may enhance fertility care access for underserved communities across various healthcare settings. By tailoring interventions to populations not usually able to access specialized healthcare services, this study pioneers a paradigm shift towards inclusivity and equity in reproductive medicine.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Infertility Patient Navigator

Assistance with infertility evaluation including scheduling appointments

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Boston Medical Center

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Wendy Kuohung, MD · Boston Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
43 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-02-06
Primary Completion
2026-05-31
Completion
2026-05-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06481319 on ClinicalTrials.gov