Context
Inaccessible and unaffordable healthcare is a real problem in developing countries, and it got worse after the pandemic hit. A group of volunteers set up a free telehealth clinic connecting patients in rural areas with medical consultants around the world offering free insight and treatment.
Problem
While volunteering there as an administrative assistant, I saw firsthand how inefficient the process was — built on the fly, and still running that way. There was no systematic approach to handling a clinical case, which directly limited how much volunteers could actually get done.
Outcome
I designed and proposed a web solution that systemizes how each case is handled and consolidates the existing scattered data into an accessible, organized form.
How might we design a digital solution that standardizes managing a clinical case from start to finish, and improves the efficiency of case managers?
Problem discovery
The current "solution"
WhatsApp group chats and a scatter of Google Drive spreadsheets holding patient history and contact numbers.
User group
Case managers sit at the center of the system, interacting with consultants, patients, hospitals, and labs — so I focused on a solution that helps them manage a case in its entirety.
Key problem areas
- No consistent process for managing or monitoring a case — high cognitive load on case managers.
- Patient records and consultant info scattered across spreadsheets and drive folders — poor documentation.
- No scheduling system for appointments — managers had to recall rather than recognize information.
- Case managers had to be physicians themselves to know which consultants and hospitals fit a case — a constraint that keeps the clinic from scaling.
Brainstorming solutions
Iterating on the case page
I iterated through three versions of the main case page, weighing strengths and weaknesses of each against standard design guidelines. I moved forward with the third: it surfaces everything a case manager needs on one screen, so they can glance and immediately know what's going on — even with a slight learning curve.
High fidelity
The flow
1. Case manager is notified about the case and schedules a call with the patient.
2. Case manager collects the patient's medical history during the call.
3. Case manager adds a consultant with the right expertise, who reviews and either prescribes directly, refers to a hospital, or requests lab work — repeating until the patient is treated.
4. Case manager downloads a summary and attaches it to the consultant's file for future reference.
Looking ahead
This project is still in progress. Next, I want to run structured usability testing with current case managers, and design for edge cases where a patient needs treatment outside the scope of available consultants or hospitals.
I believe this could eventually replace the patchwork of tools case managers currently juggle — and make it easier for more people to volunteer for the cause.