Blog Editor’s Note: Stony Brook Medicine is Long Island, New York’s premier academic medical center. Its cancer center delivers multidisciplinary care, drives innovative research, and partners with the community to reach underserved patients. Since 2023, the cancer center has leveraged TailorMed to enroll more than 1,150 patients in financial assistance. We spoke to Kristen Rodrigues, Lead Financial Navigator at Stony Brook Cancer Center and TailorMed User Advisory Committee member, about her career and passion for supporting patients in need.
Kristen Rodrigues, Lead Financial Navigator, Stony Brook Medicine
TailorMed: Tell us a bit about your professional background and what motivated you to become a financial navigator.
Kristen Rodrigues: Healthcare has always been my passion. I started my career at Stony Brook Medical Center in pediatrics. I was an administrative assistant for about three and a half years, working for our NICU and ER doctors and hospitalists.
I knew I had more to give, so in March 2019, I applied for a bilingual financial navigator position in our cancer center. At the time, our financial navigation department was in its infancy. I said, “Listen, I’m great with change. I learn quickly. I’m excited for the opportunity to build this brand-new department.” I got the job and I’ve been here ever since.
TailorMed: What are the main responsibilities of your role?
KR: I’m one of five financial navigators in our department. Depending on the case, we call patients to help update their insurance, guide them through applying for coverage, or connect them to other resources. I’m also a New York State ACA Marketplace Assessor, so I can enroll patients into insurance plans if they qualify. Every patient we see is screened for Stony Brook financial aid to help lower their medical bills.
A big part of my job is helping patients with prescription assistance—that’s where TailorMed really helps us. It pulls in patient diagnoses, shows what programs they qualify for, and pre-fills applications, which saves us time. We also track medications, working closely with our pharmacy department to make sure free and replacement drug orders go out and arrive on time. Most importantly, we make sure we’re closing the loop with the patient and helping them to the fullest extent.
TailorMed: What are the greatest rewards of your work and the greatest challenges?
KR: My greatest reward is helping patients financially so they can access treatment. I’ve had patients tell me, “If you don’t help me, I’m going to die. I won’t be able to afford my treatment.” That’s a heavy burden, but when we’re able to help, it’s an amazing feeling and definitely good karma! I’m an empath, so it means a lot to make such an impact. We often follow patients for years, especially through annual financial aid renewals, and many stay in touch.
The biggest challenge is insurance and Medicare issues. When patients miss enrollment deadlines, there’s only so much we can do. Medicare is constantly changing too, which creates confusion for patients and for us. It’s especially tough explaining these complex issues to older patients already coping with a new diagnosis.
TailorMed: With treatment costs on the rise, what types of financial struggles have you observed among patients at Stony Brook Medicine?
KR: One big struggle we see is working with our large undocumented population, as well as patients whose insurance is out-of-network. Our self-pay patients are often the ones who need the most guidance. I had one patient with a $5,000 copay for her oral medication—that’s a mortgage payment, if not more these days. I told her I would try my hardest, and thankfully, we were able to get the medication for free. She was so grateful.
But it’s not always in our hands. We recently had a patient who was denied a PAP because she was over income. We do everything we can, but sometimes the system makes it tough.
TailorMed: Tell us about Stony Brook’s financial navigation program and how the organization has committed to removing financial barriers to care.
KR: Since I joined, our department—and our facility as a whole—has grown a lot. Over the past 15 years, our cancer center has expanded from a modest facility with just 10 exam rooms and 25 infusion chairs to a state-of-the-art building featuring 38 exam rooms, 38 chairs, 17 specialized services, and a team of over 125 providers.
As a result, our workload has gotten bigger. We’re helping more patients, and many come back to us when they start new treatments and need support. Sometimes, we’re just an ear for people. I have about 10 patients who reach out to me monthly. It shows how much patients trust us to be there for them throughout their journey.
TailorMed: What were some of the challenges your team encountered that motivated your leadership to consider a technology solution?
KR: Before TailorMed, we were using an old Access database that another department had built for us. It worked for about a year and a half, but as our department grew, it kept crashing—there was only so much data we could input. It just wasn’t consistent. That’s when our manager started looking for a more permanent solution. TailorMed was at the top of the list.
TailorMed: When you first went live with TailorMed, what were some of your team’s goals and how has TailorMed helped you achieve them?
KR: We went live with TailorMed in August 2023. At the time, we just needed a system that could handle our patient load without crashing. TailorMed being internet-based—with no limit to notes—was exactly what we needed.
I have to shout out the TailorMed support team—whatever you’re doing, keep doing it! I always hear back within 30 minutes. Our Customer Success Manager, Corene Lacina, feels like family at this point. She goes over our data every month and always gets us answers fast. Between her and the support team, we’re spoiled.
TailorMed’s Autofill feature has been huge, especially for longer assistance program applications like Keytruda’s. And having everything live and updated in real time is a lifesaver, especially since we work 50% remote. My coworkers can see my notes instantly.
The Pharmacy module has made a big difference, too. Instead of exchanging tons of emails with our pharmacy department, we now update information right in TailorMed. It’s cut our emails by about 20%.
Finally, Insights has been amazing. Before TailorMed, our database was just a place to store information. TailorMed gives us real data we can act on—and it shows the impact we’re making for our patients.
TailorMed: What advice would you give financial navigators exploring technology to streamline workflows and serve more patients? Any tips for gaining buy-in from leadership?
KR: If you’re looking into a technology platform, it’s important to partner with a company that shares your mission. TailorMed has been great for us. It keeps everything in one place and helps us move faster—and that’s really the goal: to help more patients, more efficiently.
When it comes to leadership buy-in, it helps to show how technology can benefit the whole organization. Financial navigation plays a big role in the revenue cycle, and platforms that streamline your work will ultimately help bring in more revenue. But at the heart of it, it’s about making sure patients get the care—and the financial support—they need to stay on treatment and have better outcomes.
To learn more about how TailorMed can help your organization take financial assistance to the next level, contact our team.
