Forma Medical Device Design

Toward a Proactive Health System

Dan Stipe — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:51:28 +0000

Our health care system is expensive largely because it is reactive, attempting to correct problems that have already occurred. And those problems are often the result of long-term neglect on behalf of the patient. Our health care system would be much less expensive if its focus became predominantly proactive: aimed at keeping people healthy. This transition is beginning to take place, but it has a long way to go. What can be done to speed up the process?

Hierarchy of Needs

Dan Stipe — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:22:14 +0000

Most of us are familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that progresses from the most basic physiological needs up to the needs of self-actualization. A similar thing is going on with respect to products. That is, users have different needs relating to the products they use.

The lowest level is function: the user just wants the product to perform its intended use. In this case, the product should be designed to be as transparent as possible – it should get out of the user’s way. The user shouldn’t have to think about it.

This most basic need is rarely the only need a user has. Even for the most functional of products – medical devices, for instance – users will still prefer using a product that has some amount of aesthetic designed into it. Given a choice, we would simply rather interact with a beautiful object than with an ugly one, or even just a mundane one.

For some products, the personality it projects is the main reason it’s chosen over competitors. The user wants the product to reflect their own values and personality. They want it to match the image they have of themselves (and thereby enhance that image) and reflect their personality.

Keeping this hierarchy of needs in mind will help you design usable and appealing medical products. Don’t ignore the power at the top of the pyramid.

Transparency

Dan Stipe — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:28:50 +0000

“Good design is as little design as possible” – Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams is an icon of design. His work is based on simplicity and economy. Many of the designs he did for Braun in the 1960’s are as fresh today as they were then.

Medical device designers can learn a lot from the way Rams approached the design of consumer goods. Not only is the clean aesthetic his approach generates appropriate for the medical market, but the philosophy of simplicity also yields a design that is as transparent to the user as possible.

The Greatest Challenge

Dan Stipe — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:04:31 +0000

The TedMed 2012 conference was held last week. I was not able to attend, but the reports I’ve read indicate that preventative health was a big topic. In fact, of the 50 challenges proposed in TedMed’s Great Challenges program, the challenge voted number one was “inventing wellness programs that work”. From the TedMed.com challenges brochure:

“From corporate America to the U.S.government and its armed forces, small businesses and even religious and educational institutions, many large-scale organizations have a strong economic motive to encourage their workforces to adopt healthier lifestyles (worker wellness means lower insurance rates for employers). Many organizations have discovered elements that support worker wellness to some degree, but no group has put it all together for large scale, long-term success. Compounding this problem is a disagreement over the relative responsibility of the individual versus the responsibility of the organization for employee health (with issues ranging from workplace environment and stress, to on-the-job support for healthy lifestyles—or the lack of such support). What kinds of innovation should we be thinking about and how can we encourage them to come to market as soon as possible?”

The conversation will be ongoing at TedMed.com. Medical device designers should have some valuable input.

Taking Charge

Dan Stipe — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:48:45 +0000

Taking responsibility for your own well being is going to be almost mandatory in the future. No longer will we have the luxury of being passive consumers of health care managed and directed by others. We will need to be active participants in our own care, and we will need to know a lot more about how our bodies work, what’s good and bad for them, and what to do when things go wrong. When we do need intervention by professionals, we will need to have ways of evaluating where to find the best care for the least cost. That is impossible to do within the healthcare/insurance system as it exists today in the US. That situation is simply unacceptable and needs to change.

It’s All About Preventative Care

Dan Stipe — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:26:27 +0000

PBS has documentary about several health systems in the US that are delivering quality health care to all citizens at the lowest cost. You can watch it here.

There are a number of aspects that make these systems work in reducing health care costs. Chief among them is the fact that they focus on providing patients with preventative care. Keeping people healthy is the best way to reduce the cost of health care. We will continue to beat this drum.

Data-enhanced Imaging

Dan Stipe — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:20:33 +0000

New information out of the University of Pittsburgh reinforces what we have been saying about enhanced imaging techniques: computer analysis will be used to augment imaging technologies to provide far greater clarity than we can achieve presently.

The technique being developed at Pitt uses algorithms that analyze MRI scans to create brain images of neuron strands. The images can be used to find neuronal disconnections, which can in turn be used in diagnosis.

We will be seeing many more techniques being developed that will harness computing power to aid visualization of human anatomy and physiology.

Health Care’s Future

Dan Stipe — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:33:27 +0000

Medtech Insider points to a study just released by Ernst & Young that provides more evidence that what we have been saying for some time now is gaining acceptance: the best way to drive down health care costs is to engage in preventative care so that people remain healthy longer.

The E&Y report emphasizes that finding ways to encourage behaviour change is going to be key in getting people to live healthier lives. The report recognizes the difficulty of doing this, but sees a big opportunity for innovative thinking in this area.

Another factor the report points out is that solutions will need to be customized, personalized and be executed with an increased focus on industrial design. And we certainly agree with that!

A Systems Approach to Health Care

Dan Stipe — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:55:41 +0000

Microsoft and GE recently announced partnership in their “Caradigm” venture, scheduled to launch in 2012. From the press release: “Caradigm will be aimed at driving a paradigm shift in the delivery of care by enabling health systems and professionals to use real-time, systemwide intelligence to improve healthcare quality and the patient experience. Upon formation, the new company will develop and market an open, interoperable technology platform and collaborative clinical applications focused on enabling better population health management to improve outcomes and the economics of health and wellness.”

It appears that the Caradigm venture will be aimed at providing a platform for consolidating and streamlining electronic medical records, and enabling easy and efficient (yet secure) access to the data to enable “better population health management”. Managing an entire population’s health is the key thing to note here. It implies that health care providers are beginning to recognize the value in population-wide medical data to analyze the health of the entire system (population), not just individuals. This focus on the system as opposed to just the individual is going to change medicine drastically in the future.

You Will Need to Take Care of Your Own

Dan Stipe — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:38:55 +0000

Your own health, that is. The days of trusting your care solely to your doctor is quickly coming to an end. We’ve been saying this for awhile, but more and more people are picking up on the fact that patients will need to become partners in their own health care. Medical insurance premiums are not going to be coming down anytime soon. And those premiums, along with out-of-pocket deductibles, will consume an ever greater percentage of individual and family budgets. Because of that, it will become imperative that people become proactive in managing their own well being so as to obviate the need for ever more expensive medical treatment and care. Medical product designers need to take note and respond.