Imagine you're 25 years old with no pre-existing health conditions or illnesses. You feel healthy and want to stay that way. However, you're about to take on the role of a primary insurance provider in the coming months, and you're feeling overwhelmed. You recently moved to a new city and found a doctor who practices telemedicine within your network, but you don't fully understand your policy or how to approach your new doctor. You want to take charge of your health, but you have no idea where to start.
Now, imagine you're a doctor, specifically a General Practitioner (GP), working in a private office with 15–20 patients to see per day. Not only do you have to see and diagnose all these patients, but you also have to contend with dispersed and incomplete records, malfunctioning telemedicine technology, and almost non-existent communication from specialists. You want to establish a stronger connection with your patients without feeling enslaved by technology.
That's why I decided to focus on strengthening the connection between doctors and patients through telemedicine. I spent ten months crafting Conduit, a brand that empowers personalized healthcare. Conduit consists of two applications: one for patients and one for providers (doctors). Both applications communicate with a wearable device, allowing patients to monitor their health and providers to perform common actions quickly. In addition to the tech, I also developed a style guide and design system to allow for scalability.
Navigating healthcare is an overwhelming feat for both patients and doctors. With fragmented records, tech glitches, and limited communication, there exists a pressing need to empower individuals to take control of their health.
How might we empower individuals and improve connections between patients, doctors, and technology?
Market research and user interviews were conducted to identify pain points and gather requirements for the platform.
Young adults between ages 18 and 34 were interviewed to gather more information on their connection or lack thereof with their primary care providers.
Young adults, when compared to older adults (ages 45–60) and senior (age 65+), visit GPs significantly less and prefer to visit clinics or self-diagnose via the internet.
Providers were also inquired to identify top pain points, such as a lack of direct communication and personal touch with patients, as well as incomplete records.
Telemedicine has its conveniences, but it sometimes feels like it creates distance between me and my patients. Without enough ways to connect, I miss the personal interactions that are crucial in medicine.
Before diving into ideation, it was imperative to establish a clear information architecture (IA) that would serve as the foundation for both patient and provider applications. The IA ensured intuitive navigation and efficient access to essential features and functionality.
Wireframes for the patient application focused on simplicity and usability, prioritizing essential features such as a health assessment, appointment scheduling, and secure messaging.
Wireframes for the provider application were designed to optimize workflow efficiency and productivity. Key features include a dashboard for managing patient scheduling, a telemedicine interface for conducting virtual consultations, and a secure messaging center.
To maintain consistency across the Conduit platform, a design system and style guide were developed, including standardized typography, color pairings, and logo usage guidelines.
The patient app is intuitively designed, making it easy for users to navigate essential features. Patients can track vital health metrics such as heart rate, blood pressure, and sleep activity through the integrated wearable device.
Patients can conveniently begin a health assessment from the dashboard and schedule appointments with their preferred healthcare providers almost immediately.
The app facilitates secure messaging between patients and providers, enabling seamless communication for inquiries, follow-ups, and prescription refill requests.
The provider app offers a centralized platform for managing patient records, appointments, and communications efficiently and effectively.
Providers can conduct virtual consultations with patients, eliminating the necessity of in-person visits and enhancing accessibility to healthcare services.
The app comes equipped with a patient repository, seamlessly integrating with electronic medical record services, providing access to comprehensive patient information for informed decision making. It also has tool for locating prescription drugs, or a portable pharmacist, for quick identification and information.
The app also enables secure messaging to patients, fellow coworkers, and specialists.
Although Conduit remains in a conceptual stage without development, its potential impact on transforming the healthcare landscape is noteworthy.
Conduit’s potential impact includes:
1. Improved patient engagement via real-time monitoring and access to more immediate healthcare
2. Communication enhancements through secure messaging
3. Efficiency gains for healthcare providers
4. Patient empowerment
Conduit has ambitious plans for future development and expansion, including advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms to derive actionable insights from patient data, leading to more personalized health recommendations.