Impact of Design on Healthcare Delivery
Assessing the Role of Design in US Health Systems
2023
Research
About
The Role of Design in US Health Systems highlights the increasing integration of design within over 40 US health systems in 2023. Despite the impact, many initiatives are undocumented, leading to a lack of awareness about the value of design in healthcare.
Collaborating with Diana Nguyen, Meghna Prakash, and Kim Erwin at the Equitable Healthcare Lab, this pioneering report assesses the impact of design in 27 health systems through interviews with 48 design leaders. It defines nine key contributions of designers and illustrates how they can improve patient care and organizational effectiveness.
This report is ideal for health system leaders seeking to transform patient care and reduce clinician burnout, as well as for designers who need a community and resources. It further investigates the role and training of designers in health systems.
Methodology
Inclusion criteria for interviews
Practitioners employed by, or report to, a health system or research hospital.
Organizations that employ a trained designer in non-traditional design roles.
Identification and recruitment
We identified 45 potentially eligible institutions and individuals through a mix of purposive and convenience sampling techniques:
- The professional network and prior knowledge of the report team.
- LinkedIn searches for job titles.
- LinkedIn searches for known practitioners.
- A LinkedIn recruitment post sharing a link to an online screener.
- Introductions and referrals from participating practitioners.
- Internet searches using a health system name in conjunction with human-centered design, innovation, and other related terms to identify labs, design units, and design teams connected to health systems.
Flow chart: Identification and eligibility of health systems.
Data Collection & Analysis
35 interviews were conducted with eligible design teams from September 2023 to March 2024. Discussions lasted at least thirty minutes and were unpaid. Interview notes created standardized team profiles to facilitate comparable data.
A total of 29 teams from twenty-seven health systems were confirmed, involving forty-eight practitioners. Thematic analysis was performed on all interview notes, which informed various lenses to uncover patterns and insights from the entire data set.
Screenshot of thematic analysis following interviews.
Screenshot of data analysis in-progress.
Advisory Council
A 10-member Advisory Council made up of experienced health system designers and physician leaders met for a half-day workshop at the Institute of Design at Illinois Tech in February 2024, to review and prioritize findings.
Council members:
Saurabha Bhatnagar, MD | Faculty Director, Global Executive Education, Harvard Medical School
Ophelia Chiu, MHA | VP, Strategic Innovation, MSKCC
Meredith DeZutter, BFA | Service Designer, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic
Sharon Makman, MHA | Executive Director, Clinical Excellence, University of Chicago Medicine
Chris McMarthy, MPH, MBA | Founder, ILN Coaching and Consulting
Gretchen Mendoza, MDes | VP Digital Solutions, UPMC Enterprises
Sean Molloy, MHSc, MDes | Director, Center for Quality and Design, North York General Hospitals
Gary Waymire, MArch | Director, Garfield Innovation Group, Kaiser Permanente
Stephen Weber, MD | Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, University of Chicago Medicine
Christi Zuber, PhD, MHA, RN | Nurse Scientist, Office of Research Patient Care Services, Stanford School of Medicine
The Report
The report was published at the Equitable Healthcare Lab in Chicago in June 2024 followed by a launch event in New York.
Impact
The report identified nine areas where design is already creating exceptional impact in the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, and points design as a crucial driver of patient-centered healthcare improvement.
Popular conversations emerging from this report are:
- Strategies to scale design’s impact within health systems
- Fresh perspectives from design leadership in health systems
- Concrete next steps for elevating design practice in organizations and health systems.
A community of practice of fellow healthcare delivery designers and health system leaders was created following the launch of this report.
