Project Context
Problem
Hospital patients receive inadequate recovery education before discharge, leading to a 20% readmission rate within 30 days due to preventable complications like infections, medication errors, and blood clots.
Solution
A web-based discharge platform, called “Recharge”, that bridges the critical gap between hospital release and full recovery through structured recovery checklists, educational modules, and coordinated communication between patients, hospitals, and primary care providers.
Approach
User-centered design process combining expert interviews, statistical analysis, iterative prototyping, and usability testing with aging populations to create an accessible, TV-compatible interface.
Project Type
Healthcare UX design focusing on patient education and care transition management systems.
Constraints
Limited SME access, 10-week timeline, family emergencies, target demographic’s low mobile adoption, existing hospital infrastructure limitations.
Time Frame
April-June 2016 (10 weeks) for research, design, and prototype delivery.
My Role
Project Manager, User Researcher, UI Designer—coordinating team efforts, conducting interviews, analyzing data, facilitating usability testing, and directing design strategy.
Team
4-person interdisciplinary team: Lukas Sexton (UX/UI Design), Jason Olsen (Design), Karlyn Hungate (Design), Ryan Erps (Computer Science)
Nurse Korene from PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s Medical Center, Bellingham—provided critical insights into discharge process failures and underutilized hospital resources.
Project Breakdown
01
Problem Context
The American healthcare system faces a crisis: shortened hospital stays (3.5 days in 2016 vs 14 days in 1986) combined with inadequate discharge preparation creates a dangerous gap. Medicare penalized 2,638 facilities $428 million in 2015 alone for preventable readmissions—nearly double the previous year.
Our research revealed hospitals scrambling for solutions, even considering entire discharge departments, while patients suffered from medication errors, infections, and complications that proper education could prevent.
Source
Figure 1: The escalating crisis that drove our research—CMS readmission penalties nearly doubled from $227M to $428M between 2014-2015, with penalties averaging $125,000-$164,000 per hospital, creating urgent market demand for solutions like Recharge.
02
Research Process
Our investigation began with surveys revealing communication gaps were less critical than expected. The pivotal nurse interview exposed two key insights: patients lack recovery education time, and hospital resources (like bedside TVs showing cable instead of educational content) remain underutilized. Data mining revealed our demographic watches 5.5 hours of TV daily but rarely uses mobile apps. We conducted contextual interviews, analyzed nationwide readmission statistics, and discovered medication reconciliation alone contributes 10% to readmissions.
Synthesis
Through affinity mapping and concept modeling, we identified the critical transition period between discharge and primary care as our intervention point. The synthesis revealed three core needs: simplified daily task management, accessible education delivery, and seamless provider handoffs. We mapped the value proposition: reduce readmissions by transforming passive TV time into active recovery support, leveraging existing hospital infrastructure and patient behaviors.
Figure 2: Following nurse Korene's insight that discharge education was rushed and incomplete, we designed an administrative interface allowing providers to pre-configure comprehensive recovery plans during the patient's stay, not during the hurried discharge moment.
03
Design
We architected a hierarchy prioritizing one-click access to critical daily tasks with deeper educational content in archives. Initial wireframes emphasized calendar-based recovery checklists matching user mental models. After usability testing revealed icon confusion and missing accomplishment feedback, we iterated toward clearer navigation, progress indicators, and integrated discharge notes. The interface adapted to both patient-facing TV displays and administrative web portals.
Figure 3: Recharge interface combining medication management with physical therapy tracking through strategic color-coding and visual hierarchy; directly addressing the medication reconciliation errors responsible for 10% of patient readmissions.
04
Deliverable
Recharge launched as a functioning web prototype demonstrating the complete patient journey from discharge to recovery. The platform featured daily recovery checklists, medication schedules, physical therapy guides, and educational modules specific to hip replacement procedures. Administrative interfaces enabled hospital teams to customize discharge plans and monitor patient progress. The system integrated with existing hospital TVs and home computers.
Outcome
Our solution addressed a $428 million problem with potential to drastically reduce the 20% readmission rate through better patient preparation. Recharge demonstrated scalability opportunities including EPIC integration, wearable device connectivity, and expansion to high-risk conditions like heart failure and pneumonia. The project received recognition from Blink UX and our academic program as a viable market solution addressing both human and systemic healthcare challenges.
Reflections
This project taught me that revolutionary solutions often leverage existing behaviors rather than forcing new ones—our biggest breakthrough came from recognizing TVs as an underutilized educational platform. Leading an interdisciplinary team through ambiguous problem spaces strengthened my ability to pivot based on research insights rather than initial assumptions. Most importantly, I learned that healthcare UX requires balancing urgent medical needs with the cognitive limitations of vulnerable populations, making simplicity not just good design, but potentially life-saving.
