October 10, 2017 – Design Thinking

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Anchor lead: How can design thinking improve people’s experiences in the hospital? Elizabeth Tracey reports

Patient experiences in the hospital should be the best they can be, and to that end, Johns Hopkins chief patient experience officer Lisa Allen and colleagues are using ‘design thinking,’ a process that is creative, human centered and empathetic, to solve problems and test solutions, described in a recent Harvard Business Review article. Allen says it’s a win-win for patients.

Allen: A patient who is having a better experience requires less time because hopefully they’re getting engaged in their care, they’re being activated about their care, and an activated engaged patient we know lowers readmission rates, healthcare costs. I read a lot of patient comments and patients that feel cared for, feel healed. Patients who feel that their emotions were not taken into consideration really feel hurt or harmed. We consider it like an infection might be, it’s a harm if you don’t feel that you’ve had that emotional connection.   :32

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.