(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on June 13, 2005. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2005 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to make grants to eligible entities for the development and operation of demonstration programs to provide patient navigator services to improve health care outcomes. Requires the Secretary to coordinate with, and ensure the participation of, the Indian Health Service, the National Cancer Institute, and the Office of Rural Health Policy.
Requires that each grantee agree to recruit, assign, train, and employ patient navigators who have direct knowledge of the communities they serve to facilitate the care of individuals, including by: (1) acting as contacts for individuals seeking prevention or early detection services for cancer or other chronic diseases; (2) facilitating the involvement of community organizations to provide better access to high-quality health care services to individuals at risk for, or who have, cancer or other chronic diseases; (3) coordinating with the relevant health insurance ombudsman programs to provide information to such individuals about health coverage; (4) notifying individuals of clinical trials; (5) helping patients overcome barriers within the health care system to ensure prompt diagnostic and treatment resolution of an abnormal finding of cancer or other chronic disease; and (6) conducting ongoing outreach to health disparity populations.
Requires the Secretary to: (1) require each grant recipient to prohibit patient navigators from accepting anything of value in return for referring an individual to a particular health care provider; and (2) prohibit the use of any grant funds to pay any fees or costs resulting from any proceeding to resolve a legal dispute. Allows the Secretary to grant awards for a period of no more than three years with a one year extension.
Requires the Secretary to: (1) direct that each application for a grant outline how the eligible entity will establish baseline measures and benchmarks that meet the Secretary's requirements to evaluate program outcomes; (2) establish uniform baseline measures in order to properly evaluate the impact of the demonstration projects; (3) give preference to those entities that demonstrate plans to utilize patient navigator services to overcome significant barriers to improve health care outcomes within their respective communities; and (4) ensure coordination of the grant programs under this Act with existing authorized programs to facilitate access to high-quality health care services.
Requires the Secretary to study the program and report to Congress on the results to include an evaluation of program outcomes and recommendations as to whether such programs could be used to improve patient outcomes in other public health areas.
Sets forth reporting requirements.
Authorizes appropriations.