Top 12 Patient Navigator Skills to Put on Your Resume
In a healthcare world that never sits still, a sharp resume that spotlights core patient navigator skills gives you an edge. Blend people savvy with tech fluency and healthcare know-how. Show you can shepherd patients through tangled systems, calmly and clearly, from first call to follow-through.
Patient Navigator Skills
- Empathy
- Communication
- Multitasking
- Problem-solving
- Cultural Competency
- Medical Terminology
- Health Literacy
- Patient Advocacy
- Confidentiality
- EHR (Electronic Health Records)
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
- Microsoft Office
1. Empathy
Empathy for a Patient Navigator means tuning into what patients feel and fear, noticing the small signals, and responding with steadiness and care throughout their journey.
Why It's Important
Empathy builds trust. Patients open up, share what’s really going on, and follow through on plans when they feel heard. That trust drives better experiences and results.
How to Improve Empathy Skills
Active listening: Give full attention. Notice tone, pauses, body language. Reflect back what you heard.
Perspective-taking: Deliberately imagine the situation from the patient’s seat—constraints, culture, home life.
Emotion labeling: Name feelings you observe (“It sounds frustrating”). It calms the room and validates the person.
Self-reflection: After tough conversations, note what you missed, what worked, and what to try next time.
Seek feedback: Ask colleagues and patients what helped and what didn’t. Adjust with humility.
How to Display Empathy Skills on Your Resume
2. Communication
Communication for a Patient Navigator is the clear, timely exchange of information between patients and care teams—translating jargon, confirming understanding, and keeping everyone aligned.
Why It's Important
Clarity reduces errors, anxiety, and delays. Patients grasp diagnoses, options, and next steps, which means smoother care and fewer surprises.
How to Improve Communication Skills
Use plain language: Short sentences. Common words. No acronyms without explanation.
Teach-back: Ask patients to explain the plan in their own words. Gaps become obvious—and fixable.
Structure the conversation: What’s happening, what it means, what’s next, who’s doing what, by when.
Read nonverbal cues: Confusion, fatigue, or fear shows up before words. Slow down when you see it.
Adapt to culture and context: Preferences for decision-making and discussion vary. Match your approach.
How to Display Communication Skills on Your Resume
3. Multitasking
Multitasking means juggling appointments, benefits, records, and updates while staying calm and preventing details from slipping through the cracks.
Why It's Important
Patients have many moving parts. Coordinating them quickly and cleanly keeps care on track and frustrations low.
How to Improve Multitasking Skills
Prioritize relentlessly: Urgent, important, and time-bound tasks first. Reassess mid-day.
Time-block: Group similar tasks. Protect focus windows for complex cases.
Use a single source of truth: One task list, one calendar. Color-code by urgency or patient cohort.
Limit interruptions: Batch messages. Set response windows. Use do-not-disturb for deep work.
Delegate and escalate: Hand off what others can do. Escalate barriers early.
Mind your energy: Short breaks. Hydration. It sounds simple, and it changes everything.
How to Display Multitasking Skills on Your Resume
4. Problem-solving
Problem-solving is spotting barriers fast, untangling root causes, and clearing a path—transportation, coverage, appointments, health literacy, or care team coordination.
Why It's Important
Barriers derail care. Systematic troubleshooting keeps patients moving toward the right care at the right time.
How to Improve Problem-solving Skills
Clarify the problem: Ask “What’s getting in the way?” twice. Surface the real blocker.
Map options: List at least three approaches. Consider resources, timelines, and patient preferences.
Test and learn: Pilot a small step. If it works, scale it. If not, pivot quickly.
Document patterns: Track recurring barriers and playbooks that solved them.
Strengthen relationships: A strong network (social workers, schedulers, pharmacies, payers) makes solutions faster.
How to Display Problem-solving Skills on Your Resume
5. Cultural Competency
Cultural competency is the skill of recognizing and honoring different beliefs, languages, and norms—then tailoring care and communication accordingly.
Why It's Important
Patients feel respected and understood. That trust improves engagement, adherence, and outcomes.
How to Improve Cultural Competency Skills
Build self-awareness: Name your own assumptions and blind spots. It reduces unintentional bias.
Learn continuously: Study cultural health beliefs common in your community. Ask, don’t assume.
Use professional interpreters: Never rely on children or untrained family for medical translation.
Personalize care: Confirm preferences for decision-making, family involvement, and communication style.
Engage the community: Partner with local groups and leaders to understand needs and build trust.
Invite feedback: Ask patients if the process felt respectful and clear. Adjust based on what you hear.
How to Display Cultural Competency Skills on Your Resume
6. Medical Terminology
Medical terminology is the precise language of anatomy, conditions, tests, and treatments. Patient Navigators use it to communicate accurately with clinicians, then translate it into plain language for patients.
Why It's Important
Precision prevents errors. Understanding terms speeds coordination and makes education clearer and kinder.
How to Improve Medical Terminology Skills
Daily reps: Review common terms tied to your specialty areas. Five minutes a day beats cramming.
Create flashcards: Build sets by body system and condition. Test both directions (term to meaning, meaning to term).
Use in context: Practice explaining terms to a layperson. Then refine until it’s both accurate and simple.
Clarify abbreviations: Standardize with your team. Avoid ambiguous acronyms.
Peer review: Ask a clinician or navigator to spot-check explanations for accuracy.
How to Display Medical Terminology Skills on Your Resume
7. Health Literacy
Health literacy is a patient’s ability to find, understand, and use health information. Patient Navigators boost it by simplifying, confirming understanding, and empowering action.
Why It's Important
When people understand, they decide better and follow through. That means safer, more effective care.
How to Improve Health Literacy Skills
Plain talk: Short words, short sentences, everyday examples.
Teach-back: Ask patients to restate the plan. If it’s fuzzy, try again another way.
Layered materials: Use visuals, simple handouts, and translations where needed.
Support digital skills: Walk patients through portals, telehealth, and trusted sources. Screenshots help.
Prompt questions: Encourage “What is my main problem? What do I need to do? Why is it important?”
Follow up: A quick call or message closes loops and reinforces learning.
How to Display Health Literacy Skills on Your Resume
8. Patient Advocacy
Patient advocacy means standing beside patients—informing, coordinating, and speaking up—so they receive respectful, appropriate, and timely care.
Why It's Important
Systems are complex. A clear-eyed advocate helps patients navigate choices, rights, and resources without getting lost.
How to Improve Patient Advocacy Skills
Master the basics: Know coverage rules, referral pathways, financial assistance, and community resources.
Communicate courageously: Raise concerns, clarify orders, and push for alternatives when barriers appear.
Strengthen networks: Build relationships across clinics, social work, pharmacies, and community orgs.
Educate and empower: Present options neutrally, highlight trade-offs, and center patient preferences.
Document everything: Dates, names, decisions, outcomes. Good notes protect patients and speed next steps.
How to Display Patient Advocacy Skills on Your Resume
9. Confidentiality
Confidentiality is the ethical and legal commitment to protect patient information and share it only with authorized parties for valid care purposes.
Why It's Important
Trust depends on privacy. Without it, patients hold back—and care suffers.
How to Improve Confidentiality Skills
Know the rules: Understand HIPAA and your organization’s privacy policies, including minimum necessary access.
Use secure systems: Communicate through approved, encrypted platforms and patient portals—never personal apps.
Control access: Strong passwords, multifactor authentication, and strict role-based permissions.
Handle data carefully: Lock screens, shred physical documents, and avoid discussing cases in public spaces.
Audit and train: Complete regular training and report incidents promptly. Learn from near-misses.
How to Display Confidentiality Skills on Your Resume
10. EHR (Electronic Health Records)
EHRs are real-time digital charts—diagnoses, meds, allergies, results, imaging, plans—shared across care teams. For navigators, they’re the coordination hub.
Why It's Important
EHR access means faster updates, fewer errors, and clearer care pathways. You spot gaps early and keep stakeholders aligned.
How to Improve EHR (Electronic Health Records) Skills
Train deeply: Complete role-specific training, then shadow power users to learn tips and shortcuts.
Templates and smart tools: Build and refine note templates, smart phrases, and checklists that fit your workflows.
Portal fluency: Guide patients through sign-up, messaging, lab views, and appointment tools.
Data hygiene: Verify demographics, insurance, and PCP info at every touchpoint. Small fixes prevent big problems.
Interoperability basics: Learn how your system exchanges data with outside networks and how to retrieve records fast.
Privacy by default: Log out, avoid sharing accounts, and document only what’s necessary for care.
How to Display EHR (Electronic Health Records) Skills on Your Resume
11. CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
CRM—often called patient relationship management in healthcare—is the system that tracks interactions, follow-ups, and outreach. It turns scattered touchpoints into a coherent journey.
Why It's Important
With CRM, you personalize communication, prevent missed contacts, and measure what moves the needle for patients.
How to Improve CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Skills
Clean data, always: Standardize names, phone numbers, consents, and preferences. Bad data breaks workflows.
Segment smartly: Group patients by needs, risk, or condition to target reminders and education.
Automate wisely: Use scheduled reminders, task triggers, and follow-up queues—human when needed, automated when not.
Close the loop: Track outcomes of calls, messages, and referrals. No task without an owner and due date.
Dashboards and reports: Monitor no-shows, outreach completion, and response times. Adjust strategy based on data.
Security and compliance: Ensure HIPAA-aligned controls, audits, and user permissions are in place.
How to Display CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Skills on Your Resume
12. Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook—anchors documentation, tracking, presentations, and communication for many navigator roles.
Why It's Important
You run your day with it: schedules, logs, letters, summaries, reports. The faster and cleaner you work here, the more time you have for patients.
How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills
Excel power: Master filters, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and data validation for patient tracking.
Outlook efficiency: Rules, Quick Steps, and shared calendars to tame inboxes and align teams.
Word templates: Build standard letters, checklists, and mail-merge for bulk communications.
Automation: Use Power Automate or macros for routine tasks like reminders and data syncs.
Insights: Leverage charts or Power BI to visualize trends and report outcomes.
How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume
