Empowering Patients to Manage Their Own Care

We kicked off the project with the cross-functional team listing key assumptions and questions related to the consumer care journey. We then talked to health care consumers directly about their needs and frustrations in navigating their care, which allowed us to create an informed view of the current state journey.

Amongst the high-level insights, we discovered that the more people used the care system, the less they trusted it. Also, depending on their needs, they searched for care in significantly different ways. And when faced with more complex care scenarios, people lacked the tools to effectively manage and coordinate their care. Drawing from our knowledge of behavioral science, and concepts such as choice overload, status quo bias and default bias, we knew that these frustrations caused a lack of engagement that would predispose patients to choose immediately available options with little regard for cost or quality. This resulted in unnecessary expenses for both patients and our client.

Considering these insights, we created four care scenarios that accounted for the spectrum of care ranging from preventative care to the treatment of complex chronic conditions. For each of these care scenarios, we created a customer journey and a service blueprint that would help bring the new services to life. These services included lifestyle-based matching with primary care physicians, increased ease of scheduling, bundled treatment pathways covering the spectrum from self-care to surgery, and digital tools and concierge services that would help patients navigate their care.

The result was a detailed and informed plan that helped our client make better strategic choices with the consumer in mind. As requested by our client, the future-state experience was based on network strategies and leveraged opportunities for bundled care. For patients, it provided high-quality experiences and outcomes at the lowest cost.