Project Overview

Living in Canada, it can often be challenging to find healthcare due to the shortage of primary care doctors, unclear processes, long wait times, and a lack of understanding between patients and doctors. Additionally, access to secondary and tertiary healthcare services is dependent on referrals from primary physicians. Thus, obtaining a family doctor is crucial for holistic care.

The Problem

There are two parts to the problem from the perspective of providers and patients.
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Provider: There is a lack of support for family doctor clinics, relying heavily on receptionists for communication between doctors and patients. This reliance leads to unnecessary friction and errors due to the high workload, patient volume, and time constraints.
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Patient: From the patients side, many Canadians feel unsupported when trying to find a family doctor who can meet their needs promptly. As a result, a significant number of Canadians are forced to rely on walk-in clinics, which do not offer patient records. This lack of records contributes to a gap in the continuity of care for these individuals.

The Design Challenge

There are two parts to the challenge from the perspective of providers and patients.
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Provider: As Canada continues to experience a shortage of doctors, how can we automate and support healthcare providers' workflows to enable them to take on more patients while still delivering adequate care?
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Patient: How do we simplify the process of finding healthcare for Canadians?

The app should assist providers with patient onboarding and communication of information. Simultaneously, it should aid patients in quickly finding a family doctor that meets their personal needs, allowing them to maintain flexibility in their care, while also ensuring continuity of care across different healthcare providers.

The Scope

There are three groups of people with different needs:

• Government of Ontario (Client) needs to save on healthcare costs in the long term.
  
• Doctors/ Clinics (User) need support in managing tasks and communication.
  
• Patients (User) needs support on finding healthcare.

The Solution

Hypha is an all-in-one platform that harnesses the strengths of Ontario healthcare to deliver holistic patient care.
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For providers, Hypha offers support to clinics by automating tasks typically handled by receptionists and doctors, enabling them to focus on assisting more patients.
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For patients, it simplifies the healthcare process, allowing users to seek care in their preferred manner and keep track of their health records."

Research

Objective: To gain a better understanding of how patients and providers navigate the Ontario healthcare system, I conducted user interviews with 6 participants.

Participant Criteria: The participants included individuals who had unexpectedly lost their family doctors and now use walk-in clinics, individuals managing chronic illnesses, those actively seeking a family doctor, and a clinic secretary who provided insights into the structure of family doctor clinics and healthcare.
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Methods:

• User interviews
• A Google survey was sent out to collect anonymous patient responses

Insights

1. Patients prefer to seek care their way

Patients prefer having the option to approach healthcare in a way that makes them comfortable, enabling them to choose the best options for their health and feel reassured during stressful times.

2. Clear healthcare information

Patients need clear healthcare information to reduce chances of fatigue from interacting with the healthcare system.

3. Shared values for trust

Patients and providers need shared values for mutual trust in healthcare decisions.

4. Clear and fast communication with provider

Patients need transparent and fast communication with their healthcare providers to get treatments sooner.

5. Storage and access to medical history

Patients and providers need safe storage and access to medical records to accurately diagnose and provide treatments for health conditions.

6. Automation of provider tasks

Providers need better tools to intake patients and organize treatments for faster and more accurate resolution of health issues.

Competitive Analysis

Assessing current solutions on the market for connecting patients to healthcare providers.

Personas

Three personas were developed from the user interviews, including a patient with a chronic condition, a newly immigrated dad, and a clinic receptionist.

Customer Journey

Katie's customer journey map reveals insights in the finding doctor and signing documents to enroll process.

Information Architecture

Based on the researched user needs and customer journey, a list of acceptance criteria was developed and integrated into the information architecture of the platform.

Wireframes

Using the IA, sketches were created, and adjustments were made. Through this iterative process, a final design was reached to initiate the prototyping phase.

Visual Design

Hypha values being professional, transparent, reliable, and trustworthy.
Using these 4 key words, a visual design guideline was developed.

Final Prototype

Next Steps / Takeaways

This marked my first individual project outside of school, where I gained valuable insights into self-leadership and time management. Tackling a real issue that directly impacted me and my community enabled me to delve deeply into research and develop solutions with real stakeholders. In the realm of healthcare, I acquired knowledge about the operations of doctors' clinics, various clinic models, and the challenges within the space. Moving forward, my goal is to conduct more user testing and delve deeper into the development of different features.