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Design Thinking and Systems Engineering to Map Human Needs and Improve Digitization at an Emergency Health Care – a Case Study
Author(s) -
Sch⊘nning Jurate,
Falk Kristin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
incose international symposium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2334-5837
DOI - 10.1002/j.2334-5837.2020.00795.x
Subject(s) - digitization , work (physics) , health care , digital health , process management , empathy , design thinking , computer science , engineering management , knowledge management , engineering , human–computer interaction , medicine , mechanical engineering , psychiatry , economics , computer vision , economic growth
This study from out‐of‐hours emergency primary health care investigates methods to improve the digital solutions to become both effective and empathetic. A relatively small inter‐municipal emergency care in Norway struggles with high costs and low efficiency. Employees spend a lot of time performing various manual work that is of little benefit to patients. We used the steps from Design Thinking and tools from Systems Engineering to come up with an improved solution. Furthermore, we tested this solution on staff at the emergency room. The study shows that the current computer tools clearly lack functionality when it comes to meeting the needs of employees such as efficient operation and facilitation for good patient flow. Employees felt that complicated digital tasks steal time that could be better spent on health care. Furthermore, the employees lack a comprehensive overview of systems functionality. We have proposed several innovative functional improvements, including interaction technology in the form of a wall‐mounted work board, which according to the employees will enable streamlining of tasks at the emergency room. These solutions have emerged by using a step by step, iterative and structured system technique inspired by Design Thinking. Extensive interaction with the systems users throughout the project phase has enabled us to clearly understand the challenges of the emergency room and associated solutions. We believe that empathy with the users is essential in innovative digital solution.