A New Collaboration
A Pioneer in Human-Centered Design
A new collaboration between the Institute of Design (ID) at Illinois Tech and HDSI launched with the aims to change how South Side patients, healthcare providers and communities deliver and receive medical care. ID is recognized worldwide as a pioneer in human-centered design, systems design and other methods that can be applied to address real-world problems and transform fields including healthcare.
Examining Health System Processes
Addressing Inequity in Healthcare
Kim Erwin, Director of the ID Equitable Healthcare Lab, part of the ID Action Labs initiative, and Associate Professor of Healthcare Design and Design Methods at ID has been a visiting scholar in HDSI since early 2022. The Lab addresses inequity in healthcare delivery through demonstration projects, advising and capacity building, community engagement and funded research.
This effort brings the ID Equitable Healthcare Lab, which uses design methods to examine health systems’ processes and develop inclusive strategies and solutions, with UChicago Medicine. The two South Side organizations will work together — with their respective students, faculty, staff and the local community — by leveraging human-centered design methods to improve patient and provider experiences.
A Problem-Solving Methodology
Human-Centered Design Projects
Human-centered design is a problem-solving methodology that integrates human needs, behaviors and goals into all phases of its development process.
Initial projects:
- Designing a program to deliver hospital care in patients’ homes
- Streamlining patient discharges
- Optimizing trauma resuscitation in the Emergency Department
- Developing Healthcare Power of Attorney (HPOA) patient communications
An Established Leader
Creating Innovative Design Solutions
ID is an established leader in creating innovative design solutions to complex problems. This partnership furthers ID’s unique educational and research offerings in and our shared mission to serve the community and advance equity in healthcare.”
The Equitable Healthcare Lab graduate student designers and faculty will provide UChicago Medicine with recommendations:
- To research, inform, test and ultimately implement new healthcare design solutions throughout the health system and in the community
- To provide human-centered healthcare design training for health system employees, trainees and faculty
- To create knowledge-sharing opportunities based on the collaboration
A Shared Vision
Better Outcomes for the Communities We Serve
UChicago Medicine’s state-of-the-art facilities and internationally renowned clinical experts will provide ID graduate students real-world high priority projects to better understand and apply their work.
“The healthcare ecosystem is notoriously complex, but we believe this partnership will make important strides in making medicine fit all people,” said Stephen Weber, MD, UChicago Medicine’s EVP for Clinical Effectiveness. “This work is especially critical as our two institutions work together to develop tangible, practical steps to reduce health inequities and improve workflows that will lead to better outcomes for the communities we serve.”
“HDSI has been an ideal partner because of its dedication to promoting new ideas and new approaches in healthcare,” Erwin said. “Finding ways to infuse design into multiple parts of the UChicago Medicine healthcare system is a great privilege”
UChicago Medicine’s priority is to provide safe, equitable, high-quality care. Our organizations’ shared vision of listening to frontline providers, patients and the community creates a unique opportunity to merge two leading institutions and their research priorities.