Transforming Healthcare: A Patient Journey Mapping Case Study with IU Health ⋆ Collabo Creative

Introduction

To meet the evolving demands of a rapidly changing healthcare landscape and rising patient expectations, Indiana University Health (IU Health) collaborated with Collabo XD to gain comprehensive insights into their patient experience across 15 hospitals and over 150 medical office buildings. This case study delves into how patient journey mapping, a powerful tool for understanding the patient experience, contributed to IU Health’s efforts to enhance their healthcare systems.

Challenges and Opportunities

Understanding Patient Experiences: IU Health sought a deeper understanding of their patients’ journeys across a vast network of healthcare facilities to deliver more patient-centric care.

Adapting to New Leadership: Under new leadership, IU Health aimed to redefine patient care by leveraging customer feedback as a cornerstone for designing solutions.

The Collaborative Approach: How might we improve IU Health’s systems through mapping the patient journey?

Collabo was enlisted to partner with IU Health’s Experience Design team in addressing the challenge of comprehending patient journeys across multiple service lines and locations. The mission was clear: Create a patient journey map that would serve as a foundational tool for improving the patient experience.

Tasks Undertaken

Engaging with Patients and Team Members: Collabo conducted interviews with over 500 patients and collaborated with 90+ internal team members to capture valuable insights.

Mapping Patient Journeys: The team meticulously broke down patient stories and aligned them with IU Health’s mental model of the patient experience.

Visualizing Patient Journeys: Multiple unique patient segments were visualized and explained, allowing for a holistic view of the patient experience.

Identifying Strategic Pain Points: Collabo pinpointed key pain points that held the most significance for patients, providing actionable insights for improvement.

Impact Achieved

The collaboration yielded substantial results:

Systemwide Improvement: Patient experience scores consistently improved across the healthcare system, reflecting the positive impact of journey mapping.

Initiating Improvement Initiatives: The journey mapping process inspired IU Health to launch several system and regional patient improvement initiatives, addressing identified pain points.

Sustainability and Future Initiatives

Journey mapping became an integral part of IU Health’s strategy for capturing patient perspectives. Collabo played a crucial role in equipping IU Health’s Experience Design team to continue journey mapping independently. This shift towards a patient-centric approach was supported by:

Custom Journey Mapping Toolkit: Collabo provided IU Health with a comprehensive guidebook, processes, and tools to conduct journey mapping effectively.

Training and Skill Development: IU Health team members underwent training to build the necessary skills for journey mapping, ensuring the sustainability of the practice.

Conclusion

Through the collaborative efforts of Collabo XD and Indiana University Health, the healthcare provider not only gained a profound understanding of patient journeys but also initiated a transformative journey of their own. Patient journey mapping became an ongoing practice at IU Health, facilitating a patient-centric approach to healthcare delivery. This case study underscores the importance of continuously adapting and innovating in the healthcare sector to provide more effective and patient-focused care.