How You Can Improve Patient Experience with UX Design Principles?

By Sharan Grandigae, Founder and CEO of Redd Experience Design

With a diagnosis of a heart problem and a lack of knowledge about the treatment and processes, 40-year-old Mr. Sharma is banking on his hospital for timely support and information. He has been at the counter for the last one hour but has been unable to get an appointment or any idea of where to go and who to meet.

Modern medical care must consider the fact that the customer of today is highly informed and digitally savvy. Apart from this, there is also fierce competition in terms of enabling positive patient experience through timely appointments and easy access to information and communication with doctors.

All this can go a long way in improving patient loyalty, eliminating wastage and reducing costs. The question that then arises is how can patient experience be made better? This is where technology and UX design principles come into play. UX design principles use technology to understand and rework things according to patient behaviour rather than adhering to a process that hospitals may have developed to cater to other criteria.

Sharan Grandigae Founder and CEO of Redd Experience Design

Research indicates that there is greater dissatisfaction among patients if they need to go through multiple touch points. Time is of great essence during a hospital visit. A mobile app can help in saving time for both the hospital and patient.

Through this single app, the patient can navigate through processes and appointments, thereby avoiding the queues. The app can also have time slots instead of zeroing in on an exact time for the doctor’s appointment to help mitigate unmet expectations. For Mr. Sharma, this would mean flexibility in visiting hours and avoiding a domino effect on the waiting time of other patients.

Digitising everything, including all medical records, will enable ease of access to information. An additional feature could be a chat facility through which the patient can connect with the doctor instantly in case of a query that may arise apart from the appointment.

Besides this, the patient should have ease of communication with the hospital. For instance, asking for unnecessary information during registration can lead to delay and increase distress. A quick online registration process with the help of a bot in an app can save patients the hassle of going to multiple counters or booths for information and registration. For a heart patient like Mr. Sharma, such a feature can be of great benefit. Breaking down any complex directions from the doctor into easy steps on the app timeline will also help him in following the procedure better.

UX design principles always keep in mind empathy for the patient. For instance, through the app, it is possible to list various appointments, scans, etc. into easily accessible and comfortable milestones for Mr. Sharma. It should also be able to help him book any lab appointments and RSVP for the same. Connecting to a community of people with heart problems can increase his interaction with other people facing similar health problems and reduce his anxiety levels. It could also encourage him to follow his medication and treatment course better.

In conclusion

Good UX helps streamline processes, remove any inefficiencies, increase productivity and bring down costs. What is more, the platform will then become a one-stop-shop for all hospital packages, thereby making communication around each of them simple and more effective. All this will further lead to better patient experience and thus more conversions for the hospital.