Transparency for Variable Cost Healthcare

Product

iOS + Android App

Used by: Healthcare consumers. Used for: consuming and understanding healthcare services.

Team

Product design lead (me), Product Manager, Tech Lead, Offshore full stack development team

I led an initiative for cost transparency across digital products at the largest integrated healthcare systems in the US. This work took place over the course of a little over a year and was executed by a full stack team.

With this work, I partook in conducting internal workshops, writing surveys, planning and executing iterative moderated and unmoderated usability tests, concept test, and cards sorts. This work resulted in a fleshed out educational experience to teach members about changing healthcare costs, plan rules and idiosyncrasies. This work features studies and experiences across complex product with ranging plans and member types.

Impact

3%

Decrease in digital support interactions and complaints per 1L sign-ons

1.88 per 1k Sign-ons

web support interaction per 1K member sign-ons

95.8%

Increase member containment for medical bill statements and payments

Design Time X Design Activity

Process

  • Opportunities (Discover)

    To build empathy, I listened to weekly live customer calls, literally hearing the voice of the customer. This was eye opening and humbling. Call logs/grievances were sorted on boards, transformed to problem statements and then opportunities.

  • Mentals (Discover)

    Longitudinal surveys uncover important segments like problem-solving styles and cost position, and baseline comprehension of terms.

  • Current State Analysis (Define)

    Desk research and collaboration with design leads from other product verticals resulted in a figma to document the living product.  

  • Plan Architecture (Define)

    In addition to understanding the product by way of SME sessions,  understanding the product constraints is a data analysis and validation task. Those frameworks were organized from raw data to comprehensible excels that mapped this complex system of products and services.

  • Explorations (Develop)

    Content, copy and user-interface iterations are ongoing throughout the learning process.

  • Remote Testing (Develop)

    Iterative concept testing, moderated usability testing, informed decisions around content flows, content order, language and placement. In these sessions members often shared deep frustrations with the health and cost system.

Deliver

Single entry

Collapsing two gnarly sections into one obvious path eliminates confusion observed in the previous architecture which featured a separate section for cost estimation ( using a third party) and benefits summary.  

Tue cost of health

In many of the human stories, it is clear that the true cost of needing medical care is not just in dollars.  It’s also spent in time and mental energy preparing for care.

We are taking that fact into account with the way we are showing this summary.

Procedure to service level detail

\Now members can search by procedure and see a list of services required for the treatment. Previously members could only search by service which is problematic when a health event does not require a simple service solution.

Time sensitive

This design is flexible to account for spending scenarios across a variety of different plans types.

Guided

Members get foundational terms and definitions in context of the problem they are trying to solve. 

Extensible

Members on different plan types have different focus concerns when it comes to cost, we learned and optimized for folks whose spending is most likely to impact cost, and those whose spending matters less.

Modular

Trackers are also available in a modular drawer to be consumed throughout the product journey. In experiences like“Get Care”, members can book an appointment, see the expected cost, and delve deeper to understand the impact of these financial levers (deductible + out-of-pocket maximum.