WHITE PLUME
How might we increase doctor-patient relationships through the use of an Electronic Health Record?
ROLE
Development Intern at White Plume
(Product Design + UX + SWE)
TEAM
Rita Wright
Matthew Menendez
Katharyn Lowry
Gabby Hoefer
TOOLS
Wireframing
Prototyping
User Interviews
DURATION
Fall 2018
(6 months)
OVERVIEW
AcellaSmart is a smart Electronic Health Record.
Challenge: Improve the relationship between the doctor and the patient.
Solution: Streamline the documentation process (EHR) so that doctors could have more time to focus on the patient.
Current EHR Layouts
Design Goals
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Design a system that reduces the amount of time doctors spend on their laptops during patient visits
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Identify pain points doctors have with the current EHRs
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Develop a software that is adaptable across various medical fields
Personal Goals
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Develop a software for an industry that I have never worked in before
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Learn how to best design a software that minimizes the time users will spend on it, rather than bringing in users
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
I realized very quickly that designing for doctors comes with a different set of challenges. Doctors have very different goals than consumers, and the healthcare industry as a whole is extremely fragmented.
Medical software is completely different than consumer tech.
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How might I develop a solution to help doctors reduce documentation in order to increase patient interaction?
How might this solution adapt across the wide variety of specialties of doctors?
How might this solution predict patient treatment needs and deliver information to doctors accordingly?
DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
AccelaView began as a business idea, which was now beginning to be built as a functional prototype. Like everything else, it all began with a pen and paper.
Gotta start somewhere: designing the initial wireframes.
USER RESEARCH
After interviewing a couple doctors, we created personas, journey maps, empathy maps and a storyboard to better get into the mindset of the user.
Learning more about the medical industry starts with the doctors.
USER INTERVIEWS
Let's get the user involved in the design. We presented 30 physicians with mockups and the form below, then discussed their EHR experience.
User testing at a medical conference in Birmingham.
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Which components can we eliminate?
Surprisingly, the doctors wanted all of the components because they have so many different patients.
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How do you see so many components?
Doctors can't minimize tabs on the current system, meaning they have to fully close out of each component to see other patient info.
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What is your experience with the current system?
Doctors did not hesitate to tell us about many pain points in their current EHRs. They reported spending too much time searching for basic information.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
All the doctors we spoke to complained about their current EHR system. We did some digging and found ways to alleviate several common pain points.
When treating patients, the stakes are high. How can we help?
Many Different Needs
This system needs to be adaptable to a variety of different patient needs.
Solution: Pull components around on the page to personalize
No Minimizing Tabs, Only Close
For security reasons, EHRs do not allow. To access different information, doctors must exit and re-enter the system.
Solution: Component-style layout where information is visible all at once
Patient Briefing
Before the visit, Doctors must be briefed on the patient's medical issue. This takes up 3-4 mins of time, while patient is waiting.
Solution: Easy access to Chief Complaint
History Search
Doctors need to parse through lengthy patient history in order to diagnose.
Solution: Easy search through patient history
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DESIGN OUTCOME
Big takeaway: EHRs get in the way of patient relationships.
AcellaSMART allows doctors to manipulate components, see all components clearly at once and therefore spend more time focusing strengthening their patient relationships.