Reducing appointment cancellations

Project overview

This is a sprint I led using design thinking methods and primary consumer research to help reduce the number of appointment cancellations at a large health system.

Challenge

• Post-COVID, there was a sustained increase in patients cancelling their appointment for financial reasons
• This resulted in patients not receiving necessary care

Research

I led the primary consumer research, which included:

• Patient survey
• Patient interviews
• Analysis of Epic EMR data using Epic Slicer Dicer, Excel and Python
• Interviews with internal stakeholders
• Secondary research

Results

As we did our discovery, our problem statement began to focus on financial assistance. The key findings from the research included:

• Most patients were not aware of financial assistance programs available to them
• Those who were aware chose not to apply because of the stigma of assistance or a false assumption they will not qualify
• Some who did apply for assistance had difficulty applying

Design

We brainstormed “how might we” questions with our project team. Key recommendations that came out of the research and brainstorming included:

• Position “assistance” differently to reduce the stigma of applying for financial assistance
• Build a quick apply feature to improve the user experience of applying
• Use social norms approach to promote assistance applications and correct misperceptions

Please note that due to proprietary information, certain project details and specific data cannot be publicly disclosed in this portfolio.