IDEO.org partnered with World Health Partners (WHP), which provides health services to the poor through telemedicine, to improve the village-based health providers’ experience of capturing patient data. 

Opportunities for Design

Throughout the 12-week project, the team approached this challenge from three different perspectives – what tools are needed, what are their motivations for data capture, and what feedback loop can be integrated to help health providers to understand the value of data. When it came to the tools, often data capture was inefficient, erratic, or absent entirely. In trying to understand the behaviors of health providers, the team found that most practitioners were not clear on why they were capturing data, although many were interested in growing their practice as a business. And with no formal feedback system in place for the data that is captured, providers have trouble gauging what good data looks like or aren’t sure how to get it.  

These core insights led the team to pursue four basic concepts – 1) demonstrate the value that data can bring to providers and WHP staff, 2) provide feedback for both providers who need to improve, but also to those who are doing well, 3) support a provider’s entire practice – not just the part that WHP is concerned with, and 4) humanize data by having real people support data capture practices.   

What We Designed

The IDEO.org design team departed for India with a number of prototypes to bring these concepts to life. Among other ideas, they introduced everything from comprehensive patient data diaries and apps to data literacy and business growth training and monthly field staff check-ins. All were tested with tools, motivation, and feedback for health providers in mind.