Designing for Health: Interview with Joyce Lee, MD [Podcast]
A course on information technology is not a prerequisite to graduate from medical school, yet so much of a physician’s day-to-day interactions occur in a digital environment. From a doctor’s perspective, understanding the basics of how and why a software program was designed can greatly enhance their experience with the digital tools at their disposal. […]
The relationship Rx: Unlocking healthcare’s hidden superpower through human-centered design
Last month, I attended what for me was an unusual meeting at the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) headquarters in Chicago. It was called Saving Time: Practice Innovation Boot Camp, a part of the AMA’s STEPS Forward Innovation Academy. Now, even though it was a boot camp, I did not need to bring workout gear or […]
Bedroom blunders: The hidden usability issues of hospital-at-home devices
This month, ECRI released its annual list of the top ten health technology hazards for 2024. The list includes such varied threats as “insufficient governance of AI (Artificial Intelligence) used in medical technologies risks inappropriate care decisions” and “third-party web analytics software can compromise patient confidentiality.” I was most interested in the threat at the […]
Designing for Health: Interview with Mark Townsend, MD
The innovation of technology and processes inherently requires not only trial and error but a non-negligible amount of risk. This presents a unique challenge for the healthcare industry, which both needs innovation and has very little room for risk or error. To move the industry into the future, leaders must adopt a nuanced approach that simultaneously appreciates governance and its goals and is willing to take calculated risks to fail fast and fail forward. On today’s episode of […]
Designing for Health: Interview with Jeff Mounzer, PhD, and Peter Kriss, PhD [Podcast]
At first glance, many challenges in healthcare look like massive, complex, and sometimes unsolvable obstacles. But when human nature is taken into account, many of these foggy issues become clear. With a deeper understanding of behavioral economics, it becomes easier to discern why some problems in healthcare persist, and how they can be remedied. Pairing […]
Designing for Health: Interview with Gary Kaplan, MD
Overhauling the patient experience can be one of the most challenging hurdles that a health system can undertake. Honoring the work that clinicians have done in the past, while also gaining buy-in for future transformation can be a very small needle to thread. Despite the difficulties that come with a top to bottom transformation of a health system, it can often lead to better outcomes for every […]
Trust or bust: Healing healthcare’s credibility crisis
A recent opinion piece in Modern Healthcare really resonated with me. Written by Drs. Maria Ansari and Ramin Davidoff, co-CEOs of The Permanente Federation, the article focuses on the serious loss of public trust in the U.S. healthcare system which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. They quote a recent Gallup poll that found that […]
Designing for Health: Interview with David Butler, MD
A health system’s medical record transition, whether from ‘paper to pixels’ or to a new digital solution, can sometimes be a challenging journey. Technology or software can be well-designed, yet still not meet the needs of a every user. One of the keys to a successful implementation is ensuring that customized workflows and designs exist for the wide variety of clinicians that interact with it daily. While allowing customization is vital to ensure buy-in from key stakeholders, giving too […]
Grounded by pilots: why healthcare innovation rarely takes off
Let’s face it—when it comes to innovation, healthcare is both a champion and a chronic underperformer. We run pilots like there’s no tomorrow, happy to experiment with new tools, AI solutions, or programs on a small scale. But when the results look promising, what do we do? Too often, we leave these innovations to die […]
Designing for Health: Interview with Zeev Neuwirth, MD [Podcast]
Artificial intelligence and other digital health technologies present enormous opportunities to transform healthcare delivery. They can lessen the load of menial day-to-day tasks, such as visit coding and charting, but also have the capability to tap into more advanced areas of care, freeing up time and allowing clinicians to focus more on patients’ holistic needs. […]