A new collaboration between the Institute of Design (ID) at the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Innovation Unit at the University of Chicago School of Medicine aims to transform the way South Side patients, providers and communities deliver and receive care. increase.
This two-year effort brings together ID’s Equitable Healthcare Lab, which uses design methodologies to explore healthcare system processes and develop comprehensive strategies and solutions, and UChicago Medicine’s Center for Healthcare Delivery Science and Innovation (HDSI). Tie. His two Southside organizations work with their respective students, faculty, and communities to leverage human-centered design methodologies to improve patient and provider experiences. Human-Centered Design is a problem-solving methodology that integrates human needs, behaviors, and goals into all stages of the development process.
Initial projects for the collaboration include designing programs to provide hospital care in the patient’s home, streamlining patient discharge, and optimizing trauma resuscitation in the emergency department.
“It’s no surprise that the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago School of Medicine are working together as serving neighbors on Chicago’s South Side,” says Illinois Institute of Technology interim president Kenneth T. Christensen. “ID is an established leader in creating innovative design solutions to complex problems. It promotes unique teaching and research offerings.”
As part of a unique initiative, the Equitable Healthcare Lab designers provide recommendations for implementing new healthcare design solutions, provide training to health system employees, and provide opportunities for collaborative knowledge sharing. create In return, they will have access to his UChicago Medicine’s state-of-the-art facilities and internationally renowned clinical experts, while leveraging real-world settings to better understand and apply their work. can.
Meanwhile, University of Chicago graduate students studying bioinformatics, medicine, and healthcare delivery sciences will receive joint instruction in human-centered healthcare design from faculty at the University of Chicago and ID. Illinois Institute of Technology ID students will also have the opportunity to research, inform, and test new design methodologies in projects across the healthcare system.
“The healthcare ecosystem is notoriously complex, but we believe this partnership will make significant progress in making healthcare accessible to all. HDSI.” This work is particularly important because the two institutions will work together to develop concrete, practical steps to reduce health inequalities and improve workflows that will lead to better outcomes for the communities we serve. It is important.”
Building on previous success
Kim IrwinDirector of ID’s Equitable Healthcare Lab, Associate Professor of Healthcare Design and Design Methodology Institute of Designhas been a Visiting Scholar at HDSI at the University of Chicago School of Medicine since early 2022. Her new collaboration builds on her previous work.
“HDSI is an ideal partner because of its dedication to promoting new ideas and new approaches in healthcare,” said Erwin. “Finding ways to infuse design into multiple parts of the University of Chicago medical care system is a great privilege, and we look forward to expanding these efforts as our collaboration continues.”
Both teams believe that their optimization work will advance the understanding of human-centered healthcare design, provide opportunities for mentorship, and build capacity in human-centered design and the application of design methods, while at the same time improving health system operations. , to improve patient safety, patient outcomes, and the delivery of patient care. .
Already, Irwin and colleagues are working with HDSI to improve outcomes, reduce costs, and improve priorities by designing equitable care delivery processes that enable UChicago Medicine to serve more patients. Bringing new perspectives to high health system projects.
Sharon Markman, HDSI Director and Executive Director of Clinical Excellence, Innovation and Engagement, said: “One of the priorities of our healthcare system is to provide safe, equitable and high-quality care. A shared vision creates a unique opportunity to bring together two major institutions and their research priorities.”
ID’s Equitable Healthcare Lab will continue to work with UChicago Medicine’s operations team to implement and extend design methodologies to support innovation and discovery in their daily work.
Common Goals, Complementary Strengths
A research center fully integrated into UChicago Medicine’s prestigious healthcare system, HDSI was founded in 2016 to bring together teams that apply rigorous science to address pressing challenges in healthcare delivery. Uniquely positioned to capture ideas from the frontiers of healthcare, HDSI enhances quality, safety, value and patient experience while sharing real-world innovations with other healthcare organizations around the world.
ID is recognized globally as a pioneer in human-centered design, systems design, and other methods that can be applied to address real-world problems and transform areas such as healthcare, technology, and education. The Equitable Healthcare Lab is part of the ID Action Labs initiative launched in 2022. The Lab addresses inequalities in healthcare delivery through demonstration projects, advice and capacity building, community engagement, and funded research.
“Through the Action Lab, the Institute of Design becomes a powerhouse for design-led implementation projects and a true resource for its neighbors,” said Anijo Mathieu, Dean of the Institute of Design. “The solution-oriented, human-centered Action Lab acts as a catalyst for systemic change within the community by taking faculty research and translating it into real-world applications.”
Both UChicago Medicine and Illinois Tech are located on Chicago’s South Side, in the culturally rich and diverse communities of Hyde Park and Bronzeville.
“With this collaboration, both universities will focus on leveraging the shared academic strengths of their faculty, staff and students to reduce health inequalities and improve the lives of those in the communities they each call home. We have the opportunity to make a real difference,” said Mark Anderson, MD, PhD, Dean of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Chicago.
The partnership between the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago School of Medicine will officially begin in December 2022, with an initial period expected to last two years.