The healthcare industry’s best-kept secret,
now surfaced.
Role:
UX Researcher
Research synthesis

Details
Hands-on academic team project
with UPenn Cedar Campus



Problem:
In 2020, PHMC acquired Mercy Hospital as an owner and operator of the property along with Penn Medicine managing the hospital’s emergency department. Even with UPenn’s popularity and vision, Mercy hospital has impressions of Killacordia. People are scared to prefer this hospital because of the number of deaths that occur in this hospital. A major Mistrust has been established between the community and the hospital that led to decreasing number of visits.

Despite multiple changes in management, the hospital has been unable to stand tall and gain the trust of the community over the years.

Solution:

We did research and understood the perspectives of patients and the community, we were able to identify specific areas for improvement, such as reducing wait times, improving communication, and increasing transparency. We gave recommendations for improving the hospital's image and patient experience can help Mercy Hospital regain the trust of the community and improve healthcare outcomes for all.
Introducing UPenn Cedar
The period between 1990-2010 is very dark for Misericordia Hospital. Misericordia hospital on Cedar ave is opened in 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was changed to Mercy hospital later on. But the name that was given by the community to this hospital is “Killacordia”, because of the number of deaths recorded when patients get admitted to this hospital. With a mounting number of deaths, Mercy hospital started losing its charm.In 2020, PHMC (Public Health Management Corporation) acquired Mercy Hospital as an owner and operator of the property along with Penn Medicine managing the hospital’s emergency department.
Even with UPenn’s popularity and vision, Mercy hospital has impressions of Killacordia. People are scared to prefer this hospital because of the number of deaths that occur in this hospital. A major Mistrust has been established between the community and the hospital that led to decreasing number of visits.
Research
We made a research plan on how to go further to find sources for why people don’t trust mercy hospital?. We collected insights from all the available sources before talking to the patients and the community. This secondary research gave us insights to narrow down the scope of user interviews. We adapted some techniques from the book, “The mom test” and analyzed the insights from secondary research.
We categorized all the information into 4 quadrants. They are “Known Facts”, “Questions we have ”, “Our Intuitions about the scenario”, and “What we need to discover”.
Then, we did Affinity mapping of all the information to segregate various topics interrelated to each other. This gave us a clear view of what topics we should concentrate on, going further.
Defining the learning objectives
  • To understand the changes in the physical and mental health of patients when admitted. This will help us understand what thoughts & emotions ( fear, frustration, impotent, etc..) people have when they get admitted to this hospital. This falls under the category of “Bad experiences of the patient”.

  • To understand the reach and impact of community meetings.This will help us evaluate the patient-hospital relationship and people's intentions toward gaining trust in this hospital. This falls under the “Communication” category.

  • To understand the reason behind consequent bad user experiences despite investing a lot of time, money, and effort.This will help us to understand the reasons behind the low reputation of the hospital and what could be done to improve customer service. This falls under the “Bad Experiences with Hospital” category.

  • To understand and come up with new, better advertising strategies to have a better relationship with the hospital.This will enable us to understand what platforms will be more reachable to the public. This falls under the “Steps to Improve and Communication, advertising, marketing, branding” category.

  • To understand the strategies followed to improve the quality of attention to the patients. This will allow us to understand the steps taken by the hospital to improve customer experience and will also give us an idea of what more to improve. This falls under the “Steps to Improve and bad experiences of Patients” category.

Research & Interview findings
Some Interesting ways to extract the required information
There is a lot of information that was extracted from secondary research. But segregating them and mapping them to appropriate outcomes while categorizing them among various user segments can be difficult. So we listed all the objectives and required outcomes and started mapping them after segregating them into user groups.This mapping gave us a clear vision to further categorize the insights according to their potentiality and feasibility.
We understood the underlying factors behind the Mistrust towards the hospital and what kind of questions to ask to extract the most out of it. We conducted 12 Interviews with Patients and the Community around the Hospital. This is how we categorized data based on what they said.
Let's make more sense out of this..
We used dovetail to quantify the data obtained from primary research. The first one are some reasons to visit and others are some other hospitals people prefer over Mercy
Here are the insights..
This is the proof. We made a User journey map of Chandy to understand what she goes through..
Here’s what can be done.
1. Patients should be informed of their projected consultation time based on the availability of doctors in advance.
2. Hire more staff or management to address patients' needs.
3. Optimize the service design and procedures to reduce patient waiting time.
4. Provide entertainment, such as television or newspapers, to distract patients during their waiting time and help alleviate the stress of long wait times.
5. Encourage patients to use the My PennMedicine mobile app to schedule their appointments in advance.
This is the proof..
Here’s what can be done..
1. Prioritize the patient experience, by providing comfortable waiting areas and reducing long waiting times.
2. Increase transparency and communication with patients and their families by keeping them informed about their condition and treatment.
3. Train staff to be more empathetic and relatable in their interactions with patients.
Here’s what can be done..
1. Increase the frequency of communication mediums (SMS and newsletters) to inform all UPenn Hospital patients about community meetings.
2. Implement marketing and advertising strategies to raise awareness in the community.
3. Highlight the takeaways of community meetings to motivate attendance.
4. Utilize social media to increase the reach and impact of community meetings.
5. Conduct more live events/fairs to promote community meetings and draw more attention.
As a team, we did Empathy mapping to gain a deeper understanding of the user experience and the underlying factors behind the mistrust towards Mercy Hospital. These insights were valuable in informing our research and our recommendations for improving the hospital's image and patient experience.
Here’s what can be done..
1. Hospital staff and management should be well-rested before their shifts. They should have access to better facilities and not be overloaded with work, as this will allow them to better care for their patients.
2. Encourage employees to share their ideas on how they would like their work environment to be.
3. Conduct training workshops for hospital staff and management to improve their attitudes and behavior toward patients.
4. Provide more information to patients before they visit the hospital. This can include information on wait times, the types of treatments available, and what to expect during their visit.
5. Offer patients more options for scheduling appointments, including online and mobile options.
Here’s what can be done..
1. UPenn Cedar should address all the reviews (both negative and positive) posted on Google/Yelp by Patients/Visitors so they won’t feel ignored or neglected.
2. Improve the customer service methodologies to help people at any time.
3. Implement programs and events to improve the hospital's relationship with the community, such as volunteering opportunities, community outreach, and support groups.
4. Provide more information to patients and visitors about the hospital's history and the steps the hospital has taken to improve its reputation.
Conclusion
the research conducted by our team has provided valuable insights into the underlying factors behind the mistrust towards Mercy Hospital. By understanding the perspectives of patients and the community, we were able to identify specific areas for improvement, such as reducing wait times, improving communication, and increasing transparency. The team's recommendations for improving the hospital's image and patient experience can help Mercy Hospital regain the trust of the community and improve healthcare outcomes for all.

Oh! By the way, this is my amazing team
Contact
me