Project Description
Chapter 4
Re-focusing patient architecture
Re-structuring the information architecture of our software program to prioritize the Patient entity was paramount for our biotech company’s role as a patient-advocacy organization.
Orders list at the Patient level
Previously, the only Order list visible in the system UI was at the All Orders level. We added an Order List on every patient page:
- This redesign streamlined access to patient-centric data for clinicians, reinforcing our commitment to patient advocacy while enhancing business efficiency.
- By introducing new aggregate data tile to the UI, our users could see pragmatically helpful information about the status of recent tests and specimens.
- By surfacing this real-time patient information in the interface, our analysts were able to more clearly and efficiently deliver information to the clinician customers. Ultimately, this aided the patient experience, in the delivery of up-to-date info.
This redesign streamlined access to patient-centric data for clinicians.
Image: high-fidelity wireframes introducing a new feature, “Patient Order History.”
Linking Subjects to Patients
Previously, the inability to link a patient’s data from clinical care with that from a de-identified clinical trial led to a maddening deficiency.
(For background, patients entering the system via a clinical care order were listed as “Patient” records, including identifiable name and demographic information. To the contrary, patients that entered the system in most clinical trial orders were listed as “Subject” records; their information in these cases was de-identified for important regulatory reasons.)
We worked with SMEs to begin to draft a solution in the UI: the creation of a “Human” record type. This record could serve as a parent entity and link its child Patient and Subject entities underneath it.
- This concept would reduce the number of times a patient would need to collect the first specimen type, by re-using information in the system about the originally collected specimen.
- This concept would also present an opportunity in the UI for users to more quickly and easily associate subjects across studies and previously administered clinical care. All the while, keep necessary information de-identified in certain cases.
