From Pain to Progress; how AI enhanced patient recovery experience and clinical workflow efficiency.
We designed a holistic service experience and digital solution that empowers patients to confidently manage their post-op recovery, knowing their clinical teams are tracking their progress with the help of a digital patient management system.
Patients experienced improved recovery outcomes and greater peace of mind, while clinical teams found the system intuitive and effective in building trust and strengthening patient relationships.
Project context
Two experienced orthopedic surgeons, each with over 20 years in the NHS, approached us to address a pressing challenge impacting hospitals and patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgeries.Their vision was to create a product that not only addressed this issue but also inspired broader changes in healthcare practices, benefiting patients regardless of where they had their surgery.
Industry
HealthTechMy role
The project lead, 🔍 the Researcher, 🎯 the UX Strategist, ✍️ the Service Experience Designer and 📱the UX/UI Designer.I collaborated with OPD subject matter experts, Doctors, Patients, Clinician teams, Front & Back-end Developers, and Service & Visual Designer.
Client
Patients were dissatisfied with poor recovery outcomes after surgery.
Orthopedic surgery patients frequently experienced inadequate post-op care during the critical first 30 days, compounded by lengthy waiting lists for follow-up doctor visits.
Hospitals faced an overload of patients and rising care delivery costs.
Frequent post-surgery visits by patients increased costs and placed additional strain on healthcare systems, ultimately affecting the quality of care.
We aimed to understand the surgical context and the patient's experience during hip and knee replacement surgery.
Our findings were surprising, even for the surgeons and practitioners involved.
The problem did not lie within the surgery itself but rather in the pre- and post-operative care, which directly contributed to poor recovery outcomes.
To better understand the care ecosystem, we shifted our research focus.
We explored the people, processes, and tools involved in pre and post-surgery care.
Patient's current journey —
We examined patients' physical and emotional experiences, understanding their challenges and specific needs.
Clinical Team's workflows, SOPs & KPIs —
We analysed their daily tasks, tools used, constraints faced, and specific needs of clinical teams to optimize workflows, SOPs, and KPIs.
We synthesised our research findings and found that —
Patients experienced neglect, anxiety, and confusion upon returning home.
The clinical team lacked remote visibility into patients' statuses.
I guided them through the current journey map of patients and clinicians, which was rooted in research.
In reality, patients varied in their starting points, understanding of their issues, and often had unmet expectations.
Our message remianed simple: Embrace patient input; don't exclude them from communication with clinicians.
We found support in a doctor who understood the shifting patient expectations and advocated with us for patient-led care.
How might we empower clinical teams to prioritize care for those in need, ensuring early treatment to prevent wound infections and complications?
For patients, recovery is a journey.
For clinical teams, it's enablement.
After surgery, the responsibility of collecting recovery data shouldn't rest solely on clinicians — it should be a partnership with patients.
Post Op empowers patients to actively engage in their recovery by proactively reporting on their wound status.
This approach eliminates conflicts of interest in gathering vital information, especially within the critical first 30 days post-surgery.
Patients should be motivated and enabled to easily report their recovery status remotely.
Clinicians need to seamlessly integrate preventive tracking of recovery outcomes into their workflow and establish open & transparent communication with their team and patients.
Empowering family members as Caregivers.
During our hospital visits, I noticed that family members often felt powerless and wished they could contribute to their loved one's recovery.
This spurred us to explore ways to empower them to participate in the care journey through tools and education.
High-level service blueprint, user flows, and wireframes were created to test, learn, and mitigate risks.
Blueprint helped us define both the online and offline experiences, workflows and touchpoint interactions by patients and clinical teams.
Hero flows
Patients taking a wound image,
Patients answering recovery questions,
Cilinicans assessing recovery data,
Patient-clinical team communication
one-time flows
Setting up a care plan for new patients
Alternative flows
Recovery is not progressing well
Error flows
Patient unable to take proper wound images
We simulated the redesigned service experience, assessing its human, physical, and digital aspects.
Using "test cards," we outlined hypotheses, testing methods, and success criteria to evaluate its value, usefulness, and usability.
We sought to validate if patients could understand and complete tasks assigned by their clinical team and navigate the app without difficulty.
For clinical teams, validation focused on swift access to patient information for informed decision making, ensuring workflow changes improved care without adding unintended risks or burdens.
Patient journeys are not linear.
They encompass various interactions, not all directly tied to hospitals or clinicians.
Beyond the clinical team, we integrated specialized personnel to offer holistic support throughout the entire recovery period.
This included professionals in physical health, nutrition, and mental health.
Accessibility and ease of using technology were critical for adoption by patients.
We prioritized larger default font sizes, icons with text, and default voice communication.
We also developed a clear guide to ensure users can upload high-quality images of their wounds, including the correct angle needed, and incorporated technology to detect all skin tones.
A smarter way to recover. Reduced wait times? Check. Improved patient and staff experiences? Double check. We have redefined surgical care by giving patients a worry-free recovery experience and clinical teams greater insights, enabled by AI.
Patients were empowered to play an active role in their own recovery by an easy to use mobile app to quickly, reliably and accurately communicate their wound and recovery status.
The digital patient management system allowed clinical staff and support teams to holistically monitor patient progress remotely and proactively intervene in person if needed.
Patients experienced a decrease in infection rates & recovery complications. Knowing that their recovery is actively monitored gave them the confidence to live independently and fosters a trustworthy relationship with their care ecosystem.
For clinicians, we reduced unnecessary calls, follow-up appointments, and alleviated pressure from unscheduled GP or emergency visits. It freed up valuable clinical time to focus on patients who require more attention, ultimately lowering costs for hospitals.
~~ Our product and service are currently being trialed at Kettering and Northampton General Hospital (NHS, UK).
Thank you & let's recover remotely with confidence!💪📈
