Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories | UX Research & Design | 2020 | User Experience Research and Design
ALIVIUS
Helping hospitals in key Latin American markets alleviate pain points of cancer patients and empowering them during various stages of diagnosis and treatment.
In countries like Brazil and Colombia, thousands of people are diagnosed with some form of cancer every year. In theory, the healthcare systems are robust. In practice the healthcare provisions often lead to distress. Patients find it difficult to manage their condition and treatment. They have to struggle with reams of paperwork, and are left to fend for themselves due to lack of adequate support from healthcare workers and the system. Healthcare workers on the other hand, feel that the system does not support them enough though they are going beyond the call of duty in an already demanding job.
Our team immersed themselves in healthcare systems in Brazil and Colombia to understand the lives of the patient and the healthcare workers. We used the insights we unearthed to develop a differentiated service which would make life easier for patients, caregivers and healthcare workers.
THE PROBLEM
Cancer treatment across many Latin American countries is not uniformly designed to provide the best quality care for all patients. Shortcomings in the system lead to inconsistent experiences for patients and caregivers creating delay in treatment and sub-standard experiences.
CORE INSIGHT
Complexities in the healthcare system lead to ‘broken experiences’. They leave patients without support and assistance during critical moments of the treatment journey, making it difficult for patients to access to quality care.
THE SOLUTION
Alivius: A patient-centric digital solution which enables users to take control of their lives during their treatment journey.
The solution also helps hospital care teams manage patients better with treatment & diagnosis, extreme side-effects and emotional support.
RESEARCH APPROACH
IMMERSION
We talked to patients, doctors, nurses and health insurance workers to trace the long and undefined journey of patients getting treated for cancer. It helped us discover three major requirements of patients and caregivers:
Information – Lack of awareness or sensitisation gaps and challenges that stakeholders experience which impact the treatment journey and outcome for patients.
Action - Barriers to taking actions that are in the best interest of the patient, and the actions taken / not taken that negatively impact the patient’s journey.
Experience - These are the experiences of the patient (and caregiver) and related stakeholders, that result from the identified gaps in information and action across the ecosystem.
IDEATION
Aim was to develop ideas that would help patients taken control of their lives and access all the benefits of the healthcare system in real-time. We also wanted to integrate access to healthcare workers and insurance agents into the solution so as to create an ecosystem that would support the patients during every stage of the treatment journey.
ALIVIUS
A digital platform that will enable users to adapt to a life battling cancer. Along with management tools, it will also offer connected care which will smooth over previous pain points of patients, caregivers and healthcare workers.
It will help patients by enabling:
• Informed action during pre-diagnosis
• Acceptance of diagnosis & treatment
• Easy entry to treatment & connected care during treatment
USABILITY TESTING
What did we test?
Alivius app offers cohesive service by centralizing information about treatment management, awareness, self-care, well being, and medication. Also, providing real-time communication with the care team professionals and care giver.
Alivius IPS dashboard is a specially designed interface for care team professionals to manage patient information flow and assist patients during their treatment journey.
Learnings:
• Alivius Service as a differentiated proposition.
• Being the first player in the Brazilian market to offer treatment management and lifestyle interventions in one seamless experience.
• Increasing the adherence and adoption by addressing and targeting on the patient needs throughout the treatment journey.
• In the beginning, we noticed that the patients drop out of a service because those services only focus on the treatment management and not beyond. By offering life-style interventions (enhancing quality of life) we increase the value of engagement.