Chikitsa IPD HMIS

Project Background & Overview

Healthcare professionals, particularly doctors and administrative staff, face numerous challenges in managing patient care and operational workflows. Chikitsa aims to bridge these gaps by leveraging AI-powered tools to streamline administrative tasks, enhance patient outcomes, and optimize healthcare delivery. The project focused on developing intuitive, AI-enabled products, including IPD management software tailored to the needs of healthcare professionals in hospitals and clinics.

As the product designer, I spearheaded the research, user journey mapping, and design of the IPD management software and standalone AI-enabled products tailored to the diverse needs of healthcare professionals.

Objective

The primary objectives of Chikitsa were:

1. Streamlining Administrative Tasks: Alleviate the burden of manual processes in hospitals and clinics.

2. Improving Patient Outcomes: Enhance patient care quality through advanced data management, analytics, and AI insights.

3. Operational Efficiency: Optimize workflows and decision-making processes for healthcare providers, focusing on doctors and administrative staff.

Design Approach

Framework: Double Diamond Design Process

The design process for Chikitsa followed the Double Diamond framework, emphasizing a structured approach to problem-solving and solution development:

1. Discover

In the discovery phase, we focused on understanding the challenges faced by healthcare professionals:

• User Interviews: Conducted in-depth interviews and observational studies by spending hours with doctors in their clinics. We observed their workflows during patient appointments, patient management, and prescription writing. This hands-on approach revealed the real-time challenges and inefficiencies in their processes.

• Observation: Shadowed healthcare professionals to understand their interactions with existing systems and manual processes.

• Industry Research: Analyzed trends and case studies related to AI in healthcare to identify opportunities for innovation.

2. Define

This phase involved synthesizing the findings to clearly define the problem areas:

• Key Insights:

  • Doctors struggled with time-consuming administrative tasks.

  • Lack of integration between diagnostic tools and patient records created inefficiencies.

  • Resistance to adopting new technologies due to complexity.

• Problem Statement: "How might we design AI-powered tools that seamlessly integrate into healthcare workflows and enhance efficiency without overwhelming users?"

3. Develop

In the development phase, ideation and prototyping took center stage:

• Conceptualization: Brainstormed AI-driven solutions addressing the defined problems.

• Prototyping: Created low-fidelity wireframes and interactive prototypes to validate design concepts.

• User Testing: Conducted usability tests with healthcare professionals, iterating designs based on feedback.

4. Deliver

The final phase focused on refining and delivering the solution:

• Final Design: Developed intuitive interfaces for doctors, nurses, and administrative staff.

• Integration: Ensured seamless compatibility with existing hospital systems.

• Deployment: Rolled out the solution with training modules to encourage adoption.

Targeted User Personas

Primary Persona: Dr. Meera Sharma

• Age: 42

• Occupation: General Practitioner at a multi-specialty hospital

• Location: Jaipur, India

• Goals:

  • Spend more time with patients by reducing administrative tasks.

  • Access accurate and actionable patient data quickly.

  • Utilize technology to make informed clinical decisions.

• Pain Points:

  • Time-consuming manual data entry and record-keeping.

  • Lack of integration between diagnostic reports and patient records.

  • Overwhelming amounts of unstructured patient data.

Secondary Persona: Mr. Ravi Gupta

• Age: 35

• Occupation: Administrative Manager

• Location: Delhi, India

• Goals:

  • Efficiently schedule patient appointments and manage billing.

  • Ensure compliance with regulatory and security standards.

  • Minimize manual work to focus on patient coordination.

• Pain Points:

  • Errors in manual record-keeping and scheduling.

  • Delayed insurance claim processes.

  • Limited understanding of complex digital tools.

User Journey Map

Dr. Meera Sharma’s Journey

Problem Statement & Hypothesis

Problem Statement

Healthcare professionals struggle with inefficiencies in managing administrative tasks and accessing integrated patient data, leading to compromised patient care and operational delays.

Hypothesis

If we design an AI-enabled platform that integrates patient records, automates workflows, and provides actionable insights, healthcare professionals can focus more on patient care and improve operational efficiency.

Ideation

Brainstorming Sessions

We conducted collaborative ideation sessions involving stakeholders, including doctors, administrative staff, and IT professionals. Key ideas included:

1. AI-powered dashboards summarizing key patient data.

2. Automated scheduling and billing systems.

3. NLP-based prescription management tools.

Concept Sketches

Rough sketches were created to visualize ideas, such as a doctor’s dashboard summarizing appointments, diagnostics, and prescriptions.

Competitive Analysis

User Flow

Doctors

1. Login: Access system securely.

2. Dashboard: View appointment schedules and key insights.

3. Patient Interaction: Update records and generate prescriptions.

4. Insights: Access AI-driven analytics for clinical decision-making.

Administrative Staff

1. Scheduling: Organize patient visits.

2. Billing: Automate invoicing and insurance claims.

3. Data Management: Maintain records efficiently.

Storyboards

Scene: Patient Appointment

• Panel 1: Dr. Meera logs into Chikitsa and sees her dashboard.

• Panel 2: She selects a patient and reviews their medical history.

• Panel 3: She uses the AI-assisted tool to draft a prescription.

• Panel 4: The patient receives a digitally signed prescription.

Wireframes and Prototypes

Key Screens Designed:

• Doctor’s Dashboard: Summarizes daily appointments, pending tasks, and critical insights.

• Patient Record Interface: Enables easy access and updates to patient history, diagnostics, and prescriptions.

• AI-Driven Analytics Dashboard: Visualizes data trends and provides actionable insights for decision-making.

Usability Testing Plan

Objectives

• Assess ease of navigation and feature discoverability.

• Evaluate efficiency in completing key tasks (e.g., prescription generation).

Participants

• 5 doctors and 3 administrative staff members from multi-specialty hospitals.

Methodology

• Conduct task-based usability tests.

• Record task completion time and errors.

• Gather qualitative feedback through post-test interviews.

Affinity Mapping to Categorize Observations

Pattern & Insight Recognition in Research Observations

Patterns

1. Preference for minimal clicks to access patient data.

2. High value placed on visual representations of insights.

Insights

1. Streamlined navigation enhances usability.

2. Visual analytics improve decision-making.

Feature Prioritization

Prioritization Matrix

Final UI Design

Challenges and Solutions

1. Challenge: Time constraints for doctors handling large patient volumes.

   • Solution: Designed intuitive workflows to reduce time spent on administrative tasks.

2. Challenge: Limited technical expertise among healthcare staff.

   • Solution: Developed user-friendly interfaces requiring minimal training.

3. Challenge: Resistance to adopting digital tools.

   • Solution: Ensured the system mirrored traditional workflows while enhancing functionality.

Results and Impact

Chikitsa’s AI-enabled solutions significantly improved operational efficiency and patient care:

• For Doctors:

  • Reduced time spent on administrative tasks by 40%.

  • Improved decision-making with real-time analytics and AI recommendations.

• For Administrative Staff:

  • Automated processes like scheduling and billing increased accuracy and efficiency.

• For Patients:

  • Enhanced care quality and reduced wait times.

Conclusion

Designing Chikitsa was a transformative experience that underscored the potential of AI in healthcare. By focusing on user-centered design and leveraging cutting-edge technologies, Chikitsa bridges the gap between healthcare professionals and the tools they need to excel.

By combining rigorous research, innovative ideation, and user-centric design, Chikitsa successfully transformed healthcare workflows, significantly improving efficiency and care quality.