CVS Minute Clinic is well positioned amidst the rapid growth of the retail healthcare sector, but long wait times and overworked nurse practitioners undermine the brand image.
HOW CAN WE STREAMLINE THE RETAIL HEALTHCARE EXPERIENCE BY EMPOWERING PATIENTS AND EASING THE WORKLOAD OF NURSES?
My Care
Is a web application that allows users to store their medical records, prescriptions, and insurance information as well as locate nearby CVS Pharmacies and Minute Clinics with the shortest expected wait times. Once at the clinic, users check-in and exchange medical records with nurse practitioners via iBeacon technology.
Features:
Store medical records and insurance information
Locate nearby clinics & check wait times
Mobile check-in
Share records & insurance with healthcare providers
Research
The inquiry phase of this project included contextual research, competitive analysis, nurse interviews, and a consumer survey to better understand the needs of stakeholders. Service design tools including service blueprints, customer experience journeys, and stakeholder maps were created to distill field research.
Mapping the Minute Clinic Experience
Minute Clinic Stakeholder Map
Contextual research and nurse interviews informed a stakeholder analysis to understand the dynamics between front-line workers and customers at CVS Pharmacy and Minute Clinic. Recognizing the motivations and challenges faced by each stakeholder, helped build empathy and identify opportunities for design intervention.
The Problem & The Opportunity
Health care reform, a shortage of doctors, and an aging population have driven innovation in the retail healthcare market. As a result, Minute Clinic's convenient, low-cost services are in high demand. The clinic business model reduces operating costs by allowing 1-2 nurse practitioners to manage the operations of the clinic in addition to primary responsibilities of consulting patients, diagnosing illnesses, and writing prescriptions.
Long & Unpredictable Wait Times
Minute Clinic's services are often in heavy demand leading to longer wait times for customers. By keeping, the service as a walk-in "first-come, first-serve" model, Minute Clinic is able to offer lower costs than competitors such as Walgreens which provide online reservations and appointments. However, patients are unaware of how busy a clinic is until arriving at the retail outlet. As seen in twitter activity, this negatively impacts customer perception of the service and undermines the brand image.
Service Blueprinting
A closer analysis of the Minute Clinic service was conducted to better understand the role and tasks of the nurse practitioner within the service. Nurses play a key role not only consulting patients, providing diagnoses and prescriptions, but also in managing the clinic.
Nurse Practitioner Tasks
Contextual research and interviews with nurse practitioners revealed a large and diverse task load including many routine activities. Over 3 clinic visits, insurance processing and medical history were seen to take up to 15% of time spent with the nurse. Tasks noted during contextual research included:
storing/securing lab samples
consulting patients
- updating patients on the expected wait
- checking wait times at other clinics for patients
- writing prescriptions
- processing insurance
- running tests
- administering vaccines
- overseeing NP training
- printing bills/documentation
- processing payments
Solving the Problem
Consumer and nurse pain points uncovered in field research were used to define design criteria:
- Inform patient of clinic wait times
- Reduce task load for nurse practitioners & minimize time spent processing patients
- Create opportunity for customer engagement outside the service period
Competitive Analysis
Ideation was conducted in conjunction with a SWOT analysis of the Minute Clinic brand to determine opportunities based on the brand's strategic positioning. A large network of outlets and a strong health-oriented brand image, were identified as key assets in the retail healthcare sector. Additionally, a new partnership with a major health records provider Epic Systems provided an opportunity for Caremark to provide a new level of healthcare convenience to it's customers and patients.
Finding a Solution
A consumer survey of 40 healthcare customers was conducted to determine what consumers would like in their retail healthcare experience. Over half of consumers polled, expressed a strong interest in:
- More information about clinic wait times
- Easier access to healthcare records and accepted insurance providers
- Mobile Sign-in Option
The Design
The information heirarchy of the MyCare application was designed to allow users to quickly and easily navigate through their health data. Primary menu items including health records, insurance, prescriptions can be swiped through quickly. Sharing insurance and records with healthcare providers, finding clinics with the shortest wait times, and adding new Rx can all be accomplished conveniently through secondary menus.