Optimizing Clinic Hours

PROJECT OVERVIEW

This was a multifaceted B2B and B2C project focused on optimizing the workflows of a clinic already utilizing EMR. The primary challenge revolved around simplifying and expediting reporting and SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) note-writing for doctors. Simultaneously, we aimed to create a user-friendly platform for patients to connect with their healthcare providers seamlessly and access their medical reports effortlessly.

What we did here was identifying user groups, assessing the situation and competitors, understanding user needs and defining our offering to users.

My Responsibilities

Define User Persona
Competitor Analysis

Our Team

Me (Researcher)
Farid (Designer)
Saeideh (Front-End Dev.)

Industry

Medical AI
B2B & B2C

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Current SOAP note documentation processes in clinical settings are time-consuming, leading to prolonged patient visits and increased risk of errors while wasting money and resources. Hence, there is a critical need for a streamlined solution to optimize documentation efficiency and improve clinical workflows.

WHO ARE OUR USERS?

The user persona we created representing doctors and their needs.

The user persona we created representing non-doctor users and their needs.

We started with two broad user groups for this project, but to deepen our understanding, we created detailed user personas for each – a doctor and a teacher with stomach issues. Information came from national websites and questionnaires completed at the clinic before we began. By pinpointing pain points in their jobs and health, we identified goals we could help them achieve and improve their lives.

WHAT DO OUR USERS NEED?

To get to know our users better, there are few questions to answer:

Who: The primary users are doctors for SOAP note writing and prescription entry, while patients utilize the app for communication and reminders.

Where: Doctors primarily use desktops and mice for tasks in the office, while patients predominantly use their phones in different situation.

When: Doctors often complete tasks during clinic hours, where time is a significant constraint. Patients engage with the app at different times, depending on their needs and schedules.

How: Doctors complete tasks under time pressure, necessitating an intuitive and efficient system, minimizing disruptions and cognitive load. Patients may face interruptions but expect seamless functionality for sending messages or setting reminders.

WHO ARE THE COMPETITORS?

Competitive analysis table.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the competitive landscape and identify opportunities for differentiation, we conducted a thorough analysis. This included:

Competitor App Review: We evaluated 6 patient apps, one doctor app, and existing software used in Canadian clinics.
Doctor Insights: We captured valuable insights from doctors through video recordings explaining their post-patient workflow needs.
Visual Feature Comparison: We organized screenshots of competitor app features for side-by-side comparisons.

This analysis revealed key differentiators:

Patient Focus: Our competitors primarily focus on pre-diagnosis and session recording for patients.
Doctor Efficiency: We prioritize streamlining the SOAP note-taking process for doctors, a known pain point in their workflow.

Let's delve into a specific example to illustrate this further...

Patient's App

Abrideg is the closest match in the market for the problem we aim to address. They've got a patient app and a desktop tool for doctors to create SOAP notes from session's recorded voice.

Positive points:

Simple and intuitive design with a prominent mic button for easy initiation of recording.
Automatically identifies and highlights crucial points such as symptoms, medications, and diagnosis for easier review.
In-app dictionary feature enhances user understanding.
Medication and manual visit reminder.

Areas of Improvement:

Include session summaries for easier comprehension of lengthy recordings.
Automate visit reminder via connecting to EMR.
Add recording feature for vital metrics and integration with widgets and other health apps on the phone.
Add reminder for prescription renewal.
Add sending voice messages for the upcoming session with the doctors.
Patients app and doctor tool here are disconnected, if merging this two, doctors can recieve requests such as prescription renewal.

Doctor's Software

A screenshot taken from the video recorded by one of the doctors we interviewed with.

Lets have a closer look to EMR (the software our doctors currently use):

Positive points:

Doctors are familiar and used to this system.

To improve points:

Intuitive UI: Prioritize a clean, user-friendly interface.
Automated SOAP Notes: Leverage voice recognition to automatically generate SOAP notes, requiring only doctor confirmation.
Samrt Tagging System: Implement a tagging system to highlight key information and symptoms for quick reference.
Prescription Writing: Offer automated prescription suggestions for doctor review and approval.
Pre-Session Patient Voice Notes: Allow patients to submit voice recordings before appointments, with summaries accessible to doctors.
Conversational AI: Utilize AI to analyze patient-doctor interactions, creating a more comprehensive and accurate record.

THE SOLUTION WE LANDED ON

Improving Visits Efficiency:

Doctors need intelligent AI that summarizes and structures information captured during consultations, generating patient notes (SOAP) requiring only quick review and confirmation. This reduces patient consultation time by a significant 6 minutes, allowing doctors to see more patients and manage their workloads more effectively.

Empowering Patients:

We propose a pre-session voicemail feature. This allows patients to record their concerns and history through the app before appointments, familiarizing doctors with their situations beforehand.

Early tests at one clinic showed this feature to be valuable for both parties. We used the Wizard of Oz technique to test this solution without complex coding. Patients uploaded their voice recordings, and we manually summarized them for doctors. This resulted in an 11% reduction in session times, which is significant considering the overall clinic workload.

Patient Convenience:

Accessibility to doctors and key information is paramount for patients. We focused on features like appointment reminders and prescription renewal notifications.

HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS?

Improving Visit Efficiency:

Primary Metric:
- Reduction in Average Session Time: Track the average consultation time before and after implementing the AI-powered SOAP note generation.
Secondary Metrics:
- Doctor satisfaction with the accuracy and completeness of AI-generated SOAP notes. (Surveys, interviews)
- Number of edits doctors need to make on AI-generated notes.
- Number of patients seen by doctors per day post-implementation compared to baseline.

Empowering Patients:

Primary Metric: Average pre-session voicemail feature usage rate by patients. (Track uploads)
Secondary Metrics:
- Patient satisfaction with the pre-session voicemail feature. (Surveys, interviews)
- Reduction in time spent recapping medical history during consultations. (Track consultation time spent on history taking)

Patient Convenience:

Primary Metric: App user engagement (active users/total downloads)
Secondary Metrics:
- User satisfaction with appointment reminders, medication adherence prompts, and prescription renewal notifications. (Surveys, in-app feedback)

THE TAKE AWAY

This project has been a valuable learning experience, especially in competitor analysis and user personas. Conducting user interviews, studying competitors, and mapping out their flows provided deep insights. Now, I'm well-prepared and eager to tackle future interviews and market research with confidence.