CoviCare: Designing an app to help healthcare workers during COVID

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Problem

How might we simplify work processes and communication for healthcare workers?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a disproportionate number of healthcare practitioners taking care of record numbers of patients. Additionally, these health care workers manage the processes including check-in, intake, documentation, and communication with patients.

The project addresses the needs and problems of frontline workers during the pandemic. Understanding these concerns, I designed the tablet app, CoviCare, which simplifies everyday functions and reduces the amount of paperwork for workers. Features of this app are also meant to be adapted to healthcare environments post-pandemic and in crisis situations.

Audience

Understanding users and their needs

CoviCare is intended to be used by frontline health care workers including physicians, nurses, charge nurses, and medical assistants.

Nurses can utilize CoviCare to:

• Check-in new patients and assign rooms
• Communicate with patients and care providers
• Update and review patient notes
• View current patient intake and discharge statistics

Doctors & assistants can utilize CoviCare to:

• Review nurse's patient notes and directly message nurses

Patients can utilize CoviCare to:

• Get in contact with caretakers for questions or updates
• Register for testing and receive results
• Check in and find their rooms easily

Research Process

Creating a persona

Our team created Reese Withers, a registered nurse, to represent the frontline workers for the application. We compiled research on the responsibilities and working conditions of these workers. By creating the persona, we could design while considering user needs and pain points.

Design Process

Building a style guide

The style guide was developed with the goals of creating a clear visual hierarchy and incorporating task-focused design. The colors, fonts, and scale of content guide users through the application. Specifically, the dark color scheme was chosen at the convenience of frontline workers who work long hours and may experience eye strain. This also helps minimize battery usage for tablet devices. Typography and color contrast ratios are configured for accessibility purposes.

Developing lo-fi wireframes

We designed low-fidelity wireframes to create a centralized dashboard for healthcare workers. The dashboard would support workers conducting popular everyday tasks including:

• Checking in patients
• Administering testing
• Assigning rooms
• Monitoring patients
• Communicating with patients and colleagues

The wireframe includes the simplified flow covering how each screen can be accessed through the user dashboard. Users can access all main features within ~2 clicks to simplify manual processes and the path to critical information.

Final Prototype

What does the final solution look like?

After iterating on the initial wireframes, we settled on the finalized design for the CoviCare app. The app's dashboard layout is modular, so different features can be configured for different health care workers and medical facilities.

Entry

• Log In: Upon opening the app, the user is able to log in or register an account for CoviCare.
• Dashboard: After logging in, the worker will be taken to the dashboard where they can access all key features within the application within ~2 clicks.

Check in patients

Patients have the option of checking in through the online portal from home to reduce unnecessary contact. This data will then be synced to the CoviCare application.

• Info: Patients can input check-in from home or through health care workers at the medical facility.
• Contacts: The form asks that patients input contact information for those exposed to COVID-19. If a patient tests positive, CoviCare will notify their contacts.

Administer testing

• Administer Test: Each COVID-19 test and patient is associated with its ID. After COVID testing, workers can pair the Patient ID and Test ID.
• Test Submitted: Screen when the test results have been submitted.

Assign rooms and reporting issues

• Assigning Rooms: Nurses will have the option to assign rooms to their patients on the dashboard.
• Report Issue: Healthcare workers can also report issues and problems.

Monitor patients

• Patient Profile: Healthcare workers can view assigned patients and their vitals. Color-coded labels indicate the patient statuses.
• Nurse Notes: Nurses can leave notes that document significant changes in patient statuses.

Messages and notifications

• Messages: Workers can directly communicate with patients and other healthcare practitioners.
• Notifications: Notifications can alert healthcare workers of emergencies and changes.

Conclusion

Future iterations

To better inform people at risk of exposure, the app could integrate publicly accessible marketing data. In the future, this interface can be adapted to address circumstances that parallel the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the pandemic, CoviCare can also be scaled and modified for general hospital use. The modularity of the tile-based dashboard will allow for customization and expandability.

Takeaways

CoviCare provides a modern solution for hospitals to effectively address the pandemic. Through the application, CoviCare hopes to reimagine and simplify health practitioners' workflows. I worked closely with my partner for 2-3 days to design the application. This high-intensity model ultimately pushed me to learn about the shortcomings in current technology and applications within the medical field. Through this challenge, I learned to design a product that considers the needs of multiple stakeholders.