M2’s new book chapter on “Small Step Service Design Thinking” – overview

We are proud to announce the publication of Service Design and Service Thinking in Healthcare and Hospital Management by Springer.

M2 authors contributed a chapter titled, “Using Small Step Service Design Thinking to Create and Implement Services that Improve Patient Care,” focused on two case studies highlighting how small process changes can have a big impact on patient care.

Why did we write these cases?

In 2017, we wrote a book chapter of case studies titled, “Essential Characteristics of Service Business Model Innovation” in Service Business Model Innovation in Healthcare and Hospital Management and noted the importance of having guideposts as the system of delivering and paying for health care in the U.S. undergoes seismic changes. As we have continued to support a range of health care clients, and worked side-by-side with patients and patient groups these past two years, we became increasingly frustrated at the lack of understanding of how a patient experiences the system and we believe this is at the root of so many biases, barriers, and gaps.

We all know it: Health care rarely puts the patient first

Since service design is all about improving communications and relationships, it makes sense that an industry that is (ideally) focused on people should be embracing this type of thinking. But much of service design in health care is focused on what we call “big leaps,” such as redesigning patient rooms or waiting areas. This type of change at a hospital or integrated health system takes significant time, commitment, and funding, but does it really improve patient care?

Probably not.

David Feinberg, VP at Google Health, wrote in 2016 when he was the President and CEO of Geisinger Health Systems in Pittsburgh, that health care organizations should eliminate waiting rooms (not redesign them!). A waiting room, he says, means the organization is provider-centered. In other words, the most important person in health care is the provider, not the patient.

Is this a people problem, or a process problem?

Our concept of “small step” service design thinking is inspired in part by the ideas presented in the book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. As they explain, one of the first surprises about change is “what looks like a people problem is often a situation problem”. Essentially, many of us make an attribution error in attributing another person’s behavior to “the way they are, rather than to the situation they’re in.”

It seems simple to say it, but talking with patients and understanding their situation can lead to innovation that creates change and improves access and outcomes.

Small step service design focuses on processes that may seem routine or mundane but are integral to improved patient service experience and patient health outcomes.

The two cases in the book chapter serve to highlight health care models where an entity used the design thinking process to put the patient first.  We look at two examples of such small step changes: an innovative patient appointment process and a design change at a city fire department. In both cases, the organizations achieved improved patient care and can be used by other health care organizations to guide their service thinking.

We will be blogging about the case studies in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, please consider asking yourself and your team as you work on health care projects: 1) Would the process being suggested put the patient first? 2) Did you ask the patient?