OVERVIEW

With a low doctor to patient ratio, waiting time for a patient in India can vary from 10 to 90 mins for both walk-ins and appointments. Since the waiting time is long, patients easily lose their patience which sometimes can even lead to an argument or fight with the receptionist.

I designed and launched a TV application for clinics and hospitals that provides transparency around the wait time and creates a better waiting experience for patients.

CLIENT

DURATION

Oct - Nov, 2017 (2 months)

ROLE

User Research

Product Design

TEAM

Jashan Gupta

Sandeep Joshi

TOOLS USED

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Waiting time for a patient in India can vary from 10 to 90 mins which can even lead to an argument or fight with the receptionist.

The goal of this project was to come up with a solution that helps receptionists create a better waiting experience for patients by creating transparency around wait time.

RESEARCH METHODS

Understanding the waiting experience in hospitals and exploring existing solutions.

Contextual Inquiries

Conducted 8 interviews to capture observational data.

Market Research Analysis

Analyzed existing solutions around the queue status display.

Waiting area in one of the hospitals in India

FINDINGS

Core customer needs

1. Accommodate both Walk-in and Appointments

Most of the existing solutions support only walk-in and follow a token system thus not adaptable for hospitals that follow a mixture of walk-in and appointments.

2. Autonomous

Receptionists, especially in clinics are very busy and can often be found multi-tasking. An added interaction will be difficult for them to do. The new solution should not require them to engage with it again and again.

3. Inclusivity

As of 2017, not everyone in India owned a smartphone and mobile internet package were still not affordable for everyone. The new solution should include everyone despite their tech-savviness.

4. Support multiple doctors

Multiple doctors in clinics and hospitals can consult at the same time. The new solutions should be adaptable and workable for multiple doctors.

IDEATION

Exploring different solutions

Idea 1: SMS reminder when a patient is next

⛔️ Why we did not select this?

Despite the fact that it is easy to implement (1-2 days) and is inclusive of patients who don’t have an internet connection; the idea does not provide real-time status.

Idea 2: SMS link with real-time status

⛔️ Why we did not select this?

It provides real time-status and is easy to implement (1 week) but it not inclusve of patients who do not have an internet connection.

Idea 3: Televisions to show queue and wait-time

✅ Why we selected this idea?

The idea provides real-time status and is inclusive of all patients despite their tech-saviness. Further, it provides opportunity to advertise, entertain and educate patients.

LOW-FIDELITY DESIGNS

Exploring different layout structures

Low-fidelity explorations

HIGH-FIDELITY DESIGNS

Final designs and design rationale

Creating scalable content

Every content has a set of filters in the back end which makes sure that every content is delivered to the right audience (Paediatric patients. Gynecology patients, etc.).To make it scalable, the basic format of every content remains the same:

Background Colour + Question with timer + Answer

Interface on EMR Doctor App to push content to DocOn TV

Connects with DocOn EMR App so that clinics and hospitals can create and publish their own content like: Advertising certain services, Health Tips, etc.

RESULTS

How DocOn TV was received by hospitals

700+

Hospitals using it

98%

Operational time

While it can not be quantified, we also saw a lot of behavioral changes in the patients that led to an overall better waiting experience:

• New Patients would automatically go to Receptionists for check-in since they now want their names on the TV.
• The next patient would automatically get ready for the consultation.
• No queues around Reception asking for wait times.
• A lot of patients were engaging with the quizzes, thus reducing the perceived wait time.
• Receptionists now had more time to focus on other aspects of managing a hospital/clinic.