Building a user-centered companion for elderly patients who have to mitigate and carefully monitor their health at home.
Industry
Healthcare, Pharmaceutical
Platform
iOS App
Scope
5 months
What is it?
A Mobile App, integrated with Electronic Medical Records (EMR) to conduct patient remote monitoring with the support of a physician prescribed care kit.
How do we bring the traditional pharmaceutical industry into the digital future?
From discovery workshops to hash out the problem, to concept drawings and user testing, we worked with our client team to bring our joint vision to reality. We launched the Beta iOS app on TestFlight, and developed a prototype EMR system to host our syndrome detection algorithm.
Remember to stay hydrated!
For patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), this statement is more than just a reminder.
The client currently has a therapy program that has shown high effectiveness at reducing CLL in clinical trials, however, out in the real world, patients 75+ of age are developing something called Tumour Lysis Syndrome.
Digital Companion App matches the physical drug packaging so that elderly patients are able to recognize it easily.
“Tumour Lysis Syndrome (TLS) occurs when tumour cells rapidly break down and release waste materials into the bloodstream, which can lead to serious heart and kidney problems, or death if not timely managed. ”
What’s the challenge?
To prevent TLS, patients require adequate hydration, frequent blood draws and electrolyte monitoring during the 5 week ramp up period.
What is the ultimate goal?
The organization wanted to provide a solution to help patients monitor their biomarkers so that the drug’s effectiveness would continue to benefit their livelihoods.
How do we prevent TLS?
We developed an algorithm based on the tumour burden of the patient into three outputs, low, medium or high risk for developing TLS. Based on the diagnosis, the physician will be able to prescribe different prophylaxis amounts and level of blood chemistry monitoring needed.
To track it all, we designed a remote patient monitoring system that will allow healthcare providers and nurses to check on the patient’s progress.
The healthcare providers are able to send notifications to the patient when they notice that their biomarker levels are out of range, and the patients are able to let the healthcare providers know how they are progressing.
Healthcare provider can message the patient from the Physicians Dashboard.
1, 2, 3…
How do we simplify the patient’s therapy? By creating a routine. Each day, there are 3 tasks the patient has to complete. Taking medication, drinking water, and keeping biomarker levels in range.
These three cards make up the dashboard on the patient’s app.
Tracking Progress Together
As we explored the future of healthcare, we imagined how we could use smart technology to make our patient’s lives easier.
Aside from manually entering water intake to track fluids, patients can connect a smart water bottle to the companion app, removing the burden of remembering to track when, and how much water they drank.
Abb-O: the AI Chatbot for Patients
For example, the Abb-O can ask: “How are you feeling today?” and the patient can respond “I’m need some help.”
Abb-O can then recommend some help videos available on the app, or ask the patient if they would like to alert their nurse for them.
Everyone Needs a Companion
After receiving their TLS Risk, patients are able to read more about their diagnosis, how they can help mitigate risks for their own therapy, or learn more through videos from accredited medical professionals.
What did I learn?
This was my first foray into design for digital health, and when I tell you it has changed my life, even that could be an understatement. Designing this solution for patients and healthcare providers really allowed me to think about the impact of my work - whether it was correcting my bad habits as a “lazy” designer sometimes, or more about how design has to be inclusive.
Subsequently, all I want to do is design for social good. There’s a lot to be learned still, but my trajectory as a designer from now on inspires me for the future.
Update
2 Rounds of User Testing Complete for Patients and Healthcare Providers
Phase 1 (Prototype and Beta app) Complete
Awaiting Phase 2