Laboratorio de gobierno
PUBLIC INNOVATION, CHILE
Laboratorio de Gobierno is an in-house innovation unit within the Chilean government with focus on facilitating innovation and a citizen centric approach to public service design.
I formed part of the initial team of Laboratorio de Gobierno during its set up, contributing to the creation of design methodologies, tools and a case study project to demonstrate the application of the methods on the ground.
To learn more about Laboratorio de Gobierno go to https://www.lab.gob.cl/
The challenge
In order to demonstrate the service design methodologies designed for Laboratorio de Gobierno, we did a project for the Ministry of Heath.
Accessing primary healthcare is not easy for many Chileans. In some parts of the country people have to queue outside of health centres from 6am to see a doctor, exposing themselves to sickness and unsafe conditions.
The Ministry of Health aims to deliver a service that has an holistic view of the patients through the CESFAMs (family medical centres) but the lack of resources in most these centres compromises this goal.
On average a doctor has 10 minutes to see and diagnose a patient. This time constraint leads to quick transactional interactions that leave patients with unaddressed questions about their illness and treatment, many times forcing them to go back to the CESFAM, creating friction and overloading the system.
How might we transform the doctor-patient relationship to create holistic, effective and meaningful healthcare experiences?
The outcome
Núcleo Activo is a digital platform that provides a 360° view of patients’ lives, helping doctors very quickly have a full picture of the person they have in front of them, enabling them to better understand the patient’s medical records, their lifestyle and the local services available around the patient’s home.
By understanding who the patient is, how and where they live, doctors can make better diagnoses and prescribe more effective treatments, including social prescription of local services, such as sports or other type of activities in the patients’ council. This way Núcleo Activo creates meaningful connections between the doctors, the patients and the local community.
In 2015, this project was nominated for the Helen Hamlyn Design Awards.
