Short answer
Care navigation is help understanding your health options and coordinating the right next step for your situation. In an ACCESS membership, it is included alongside virtual primary care and 24/7 urgent care, with no additional encounter fee. Licensed clinicians make all clinical decisions, and they tell you when a concern needs in-person evaluation.
What care navigation means
Plain definition: understanding options, coordinating next steps
Healthcare has a lot of doors. There is primary care, urgent care, specialists, labs, pharmacies and in-person clinics, and it is not always clear which one fits the question in front of you. Care navigation is the help that sits between you and those doors. On the ACCESS virtual care page, it is described simply as "help understanding your options and coordinating the right next step for your situation."
The broader idea is familiar in healthcare. Public programs describe care coordination as organizing a person's care so the right information reaches the right people at the right time. A steady relationship with primary care is often where that starts, and guidance on choosing a primary care provider makes the same point: it helps to have one place that knows your history and helps you decide what comes next.
How it differs from a single visit
A single visit answers the question you brought that day. Care navigation is about what happens around that visit: understanding what your options are before you start, and knowing what to do after you finish. It is the difference between getting an answer and knowing where that answer leads.
That is why care navigation matters most in a membership. When care is ongoing rather than one-off, the same care team can help you move from a question, to a visit, to a follow-up, without starting over each time.
What care navigation looks like inside ACCESS
Where it sits
ACCESS is healthcare infrastructure: one membership for everyday care. Care navigation is not an add-on. It is listed as an included benefit on the membership page, next to:
- Virtual primary care
- 24/7 urgent care for common, everyday concerns
- Dermatology
- Behavioral health and counseling resources
Included core care encounters have no additional encounter fee. According to the ACCESS FAQs, primary care, 24/7 urgent care, dermatology, care navigation and behavioral-health resources carry no additional encounter fee.
Your ACCESS portal and My Care
Navigation works best when your information is in one place. How ACCESS works puts it this way: you can start care, message your care team, review results and manage prescriptions in My Care. Messaging, visits, labs and records live in one member portal you can reach from your phone.
In practice, that means the context of your care travels with you. When you ask a follow-up question, your care team can see what came before, and you can see it too.
Specialist messaging and network access where available
Some questions go beyond everyday care. ACCESS membership includes specialist messaging and network access where available. Specialist access varies by state and availability, so it is not the same for every member, and it is not a promise of any particular referral. What care navigation can do is help you understand whether a specialist may be part of your next step, and what your options look like where you live.
When navigation helps most
Care navigation is not a diagnosis tool or a symptom quiz. It is everyday support for the moments when the next step is not obvious. A few common examples:
A new concern and you're unsure where to start
Maybe it is a rash that keeps coming back, a sleep problem that is starting to affect your days, or a question about a medication you already take. You are not sure whether this is a primary care question, a dermatology question or something else. Care navigation helps you understand your options and start in the right place, with a licensed clinician reviewing your information.
Following up after a recent visit or treatment
Many questions show up after a visit, not during it. You get home and wonder what a result means, how long to wait before checking in, or what to do if something has not improved. The ACCESS urgent care page lists this as a common reason to reach out: "Clarify next steps after a recent visit or treatment." Navigation keeps those questions from falling through the cracks.
When something needs in-person evaluation
Virtual care can handle a lot, but not everything. Some concerns need a physical exam, imaging, a procedure or testing in person. When that is the case, your clinician will tell you when a concern needs in-person evaluation and can help you understand the next step. That clarity is part of navigation too: knowing when the right next step is somewhere else, and why.
What care navigation is and isn't
It helps to be plain about scope.
Care navigation is:
- Help understanding your health options
- Coordination of the right next step for your situation
- Support that connects your visits, messages, results and follow-ups through your ACCESS portal
- Guidance from a care team, with licensed clinicians practicing within their scope and state making all clinical decisions
Care navigation isn't:
- A diagnosis on its own
- A promise of any referral, test, treatment or prescription; those are always at the clinician's discretion
- A substitute for major medical coverage for hospital stays or surgical care
ACCESS is built for everyday care: the questions, concerns and follow-ups that come up between bigger medical events. Keep your health coverage for hospital and surgical care, and use your membership for the everyday moments in between.
What it costs
Care navigation is included in every ACCESS membership. There is no separate navigation fee. ACCESS pricing is published on the membership page:
- ACCESS Individual: $79/month for one member
- ACCESS Family: $229/month for a primary member plus up to 7 additional family members (up to 8 people total)
Every covered household member has the same core benefits, including care navigation. Labs are available at an additional cost, starting at $150. Prescriptions and pharmacy costs vary.
For more on how included care works, see Are There Healthcare Memberships With No Extra Fee Per Visit?, Virtual Primary Care Membership and Family Healthcare Membership. If you are comparing options, Telehealth vs a Healthcare Membership and Everyday Healthcare Access walk through the differences.
FAQ
What is care navigation?
Help understanding your health options and coordinating the right next step for your situation.
Is care navigation included in ACCESS membership?
Yes. It is included in ACCESS Individual ($79/mo) and ACCESS Family ($229/mo), with no additional encounter fee.
Who makes the medical decisions?
Licensed clinicians practicing within their scope and state review your information and make all clinical decisions.
Can care navigation help me reach a specialist?
ACCESS includes specialist messaging and network access where available; availability varies by state.
What if I need in-person care?
Your clinician will tell you when a concern needs in-person evaluation and can help you understand the next step.
Does it cover my whole family?
ACCESS Family covers the primary member plus up to 7 more people, up to 8 total, for $229/mo.
How to start
Choose ACCESS Individual or ACCESS Family, join, and land in your ACCESS portal. From there, you can start care, message your care team and get help with your next step. Individual $79/mo · Family $229/mo.