The Path &
The Heart Aids
A New Future for Hospital Discharges
Paper Named "A study of user experience design for hospital discharge" Submitted to
ICED 23, 24th International Conference on Engineering Design
Time: 2022 Spring
Team: Katia Krotova, Anna Schuessler, and Jenny Yi
Role: UX Researcher/Designer, Product Designer, Experience Designer
Tool: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop
* What is The Path & The Heart Aids
The Path & The Heart Aids is a combined solution to today's hospital discharge process for heart failure patients, which aims to bridge the communicative gap by making the transition smooth, informed, and human-centered, which ultimately reduces the chance of being readmitted after being discharged.
Why The Path & The Heart Aids
At the beginning of this semester, our team focused on working on a communications problem, and we found our match when we started thinking about the hospital discharge process, specifically as it is experienced by heart failure patients. There is currently a lack of access to the information hospital patients need to make informed decisions about their care and transition back to home life after a hospitalization. The many stakeholders involved in a patient’s care use different modes of communication, and not all of them are coordinated. This is exemplified by the hospital discharge process, which can be a very confusing and frustrating experience for patients and their caregivers. These gaps in communication have dire consequences. They can threaten a patient’s recovery and transition back into their home lives, and can also result in high hospital readmission rates, which are costly for everyone involved. Information can empower patients to take charge of their situations, ask relevant questions, and prepare for a new lifestyle after discharge.
Goal 1
Shorten Length of Stay
Goal 2
Reduce readmissions & penalties
Hospital Discharge Happens Every Day...
What Exactly are Problems We Are Facing?
Problem Definition
1 Facts of Hospital Discharge
35 million
people are discharged from hospitals in the US annually
20%
of Medicare beneficiaries experience an unplanned hospital readmission
1 million
hospitalizations are attributed to heart failure annually, which adds up to 6.5 million hospitalization days in the United States, with an estimated cost across the system of... $37.2 billion/year
2 Many Stakeholders of Hospital Discharge
3 A Disorienting Experience for Patients
How to Fix the Communicative Gap as a Key Solution?
Research Methods
1 Simulations
Exercises to better understand the daily challenges & obstacles that older adults face
2 Interviews
Building a deeper understanding of our users through individual and group interviews
Our interviewees include 85+ lifestyle leaders, social workers, doctors, nurses, policymakers, and healthcare professionals
Research Synthesis
After synthesizing our research, we concluded 4 takeaways and 5 ideas that together established our design directions:
4 Takeaways
focus on communication between doctors/nurses and patient
empower the patient with knowledge and questions they can ask
the importance of the quality of health care
lots of opportunities for connection between different stakeholders (social workers following up after discharge, staff at transitional facility coming to discharge meetings, etc.)
5 Ideas
is there a way to check in at different times to see what questions come up (i.e., at the hospital, when you are settled at home)?
resources such as healthcare programs for people to get small tips that don't rise to the level of question for a doctor/nurse
an easier way to check insurance coverage
list of questions patients could ask themselves to see if they feel ready to move on from the hospital
a way to do pre-emptive education with older people and families so these situations aren't so new and stressful
How Might We Bridge the Communicative Gap in the Discharge Process by Making the Transition Smooth, Informed, and Human-centered, which Ultimately Reduces the Chance of Being Readmitted after Being Discharged?
Design Thinking
1 Brainstorming
Workshops to collect ideas, share thoughts, and try possible solutions
2 Sketching & Modeling
Testing ideas with both low-fi and mid-fi methods
3 Physical Prototype
Creation of a physical prototype to visualize final ideas
What Comes up as the Solution?
The Path & The Heart Aids
The Path and The Heart Aids is one virtual interface and one physical package product. The APP that can be integrated in the hospital's bedside screen and your phone is called the Path, and the patients would receive a customized package called the Heart Aids with toolkits covering three aspects including medical equipment, emotional support and educational care when they are discharged. The idea is to bridge the communicative gap in the discharge process by making the transition smooth, informed, and human-centered, which ultimately reduces the chance of being readmitted after being discharged.
High-Fidelity Design of the Path
The Path contains six main functions based on patients' heart failure journey map once admitted to hospital till discharged. And the high-fidelity design focuses on seven steps including onboarding besides those six main functions.
0 Onboarding
The UI/UX concept is CONVERSATIONAL.
avoid the clinical “form filling”, yet it maintains professionalism and concision
1 Diagnosis
Features that manage the diagnostic process, understand the health condition, and prepare for life changes
2.1 Pre-treatment
Features that educate on health management, costs, and prepare for discharge
2.2 One-Stop Shop
Customizable to the specific needs of each patient
3 Treatment
Features that keep care provider team, patients, and caregivers on the same page
4 In-patient Stay
Features that assist in regaining autonomy, emotional recovery, connect to community resources
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5 Discharge
Features that streamline coordination and patient education, and celebrates discharge
6 Monitor
Features that manage appointments, tracks and reinforce good habits for a healthy recovery
The Heart Aids
The Heart Aids is a tailored package of goods and services that fulfill needs in emotional and physical health. While in hospital, patients can use the Path App to choose what they will need after being discharged with advice from doctors, nurses, social workers, and caregivers. On the day of discharge, patients get their package either delivered to nursing unit or home.
The Heart Aids contain three aspects of toolkits, which comprehensively respond to the question of hospital discharge. They are Meds: medical equipment, Eds: educational support, and Ids: emotional care.
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In this sample package, the patient chooses one pillbox and one blood pressure as his/her Meds, one weekly plan as Eds, and a special discharge party as Ids.
The special discharge party is a service that people can order as a celebration of discharge. Instead of leaving the hospital waiting for hours, this party can be regarded as a graduation ceremony to celebrate the patient of becoming healthy again, to thank the healthcare workers for their work, and to memorize the patients living in the same nursing unit of their friendship. Discharge process is the transition to another beginning!
Conclusion
The Path and the Heart Aids aims to work together to make the discharge process smoother by empowering the patients with knowledge of their own conditions, and strengthening the communication between patients, doctors, nurses, social workers, and caregivers. This system is more as a platform for better communication, where various stakeholders can be on the same page.