Specialist Connector
Client:
Northwell Health
Role:
Service Designer, UX Researcher
I worked alongside a class of 15 students and developed strategies and prototypes on how Northwell could personalize and digitally transform patients' individualized care journeys while keeping Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) in mind. ​
Duration: 15 weeks
The challenge
How might we digitally transform the stakeholder experiences
at Northwell Health with a special focus on the social determinants of health?
Our design process
With a research-led and design-thinking approach, the team collaborated on uncovering challenges and offering product and service-based solutions that were strategic and experiential.
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Our process was rooted in a participatory method and co-designed solutions with the Northwell team and research participants.
Research
We conducted primary and secondary research to gain an in-depth understanding of the current healthcare landscape in New York State, uncover qualitative and quantitative insights to build informed solutions in a participatory manner.
Primary research
Interviews
Group Discussions
Surveys
Secondary research
Podcasts
Market & Benchmark Analysis
Journals & Research Reports
We also outlined the patient's emotional journey into three overarching phases of caregiving and deciphered the micro touch-points. This helped us to get perspective of a patient's experience throughout the journey and the emotions conveyed around it.
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I conducted several interviews with the stakeholders and synthesized the data collected to get predominant insights.
Emotional journey map of a patient throughout the treatment
Insights from research
Accessibility to healthcare in USA is
Complex
Unguided
Ambiguous
33%
adults failed to fill a prescription because of costs
24days
of average wait time for a new patient-physician appointment
The question now!!
How might Northwell decrease entry barriers and increase accessibility in the healthcare system?
Our approach
Considering the key insights from our research interviewees, we created a persona, ideal to our area of concern - access to care
So I had a strong migraine and went to the hospital, I made an appointment with a primary doctor, who later directed me to a neurologist and by the time I got my results back my headache was already gone and so were my dollars. Next time I am simply going to CVS.
~ An actual statement by one of the interviewees
Challenges
Perception of complexity
Lack of clear information
Ambiguous costs
Hard to find required doctor
Self-medication
Distrust in the system
Ideation
We conducted a co-ideation session with the Northwell team, presented two sacrificial concepts and reviewed the prioritized ideas.
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Later we brainstormed and identified opportunity areas and developed concepts based on the viability, desirability and feasibility of the idea.
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From the gathered insights, I conceived distinct concepts.
Prototype & Testing
We reimagined a patient’s journey until their first appointment and proposed interventions at required touch points like filling personal details on signing up, adding the symptoms, choosing the doctor, pre-appointment tasks etc.
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I strategized the prototyping sessions, developed interview guides and conducted 1:1 interviews.
Prototype Testing Insights
Most patients do their own research online before appointments yet the results do not match up with their choice.
People preferred to access their prescriptions and medical records in one place.
Patients have a tendency to form long-lasting bonds with primary health physicians.
Proposed solution
Several solutions were proposed over the three overarching phases of caregiving we discovered during our research.
My team's solution "Specialist connector" was aligned to the initial phase of "access to care."
Features
The specialist connector: A new guardian helping patients to go through the journey by finding the right doctor according to their conditions and needs.
Impact: Data related to the patient condition would help generate better suggestions for the patients, connecting them to specialists directly in case of severe symptoms, thus reducing the treatment time.
The data would also be fed in the system so the doctor can provide more precise diagnosis and treatment.
Click on the image to view prototypes