Safer Medical Care and COVID-19

Enabling Safer Medical Care in a World Shaped by COVID-19

Overview

COVID-19 has changed our world. The last few months have demonstrated how dangerous it can be for healthcare workers to interact directly with patients. Also, the new inherent risks of accessing medical care at a healthcare facility present a new challenge for patients and their support network.

Project Goal

Your goal is to design a product, process, or service to make and receive medical care safer.

Problem Definition & Specifications

Think broadly, and then articulate a specific challenge.  Examples might include: 

1. Ways to protect healthcare workers and patients in face-to-face visits and during high exposure procedures (e.g., intubation, labor and delivery), such as PPE, full-body suits, PAPR
2. Ways to enable remote care such as a “healthcare-in-a-box” system: video and bluetooth enabled measurements of pulse, O2 ,blood pressure, blood glucose, ….

Work with faculty leads to identify specific goals and customers, learn from primary and secondary sources about problems with current solutions (cost, sterilizability, usability, design, reliability, regulatory and reimbursement requirements), design and prototype a solution and evaluate it with experts,  present a prototype and vision for how your idea will enable safer medical care. [We highly recommend that your team includes at least one person with previous experience in human-centered design or that you join http://designatcolumbia.com/ to learn about the process]

Assessment

Your efforts will be judged according to: 

• Clear description of user(s)
• Thorough understanding and new insights into users’ needs
• Idea based on needs and new insights
• Convincing prototype of the experience
• User feedback incorporated into design
• Compelling idea that would help someone