Designing connection into healthcare services Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • PurposeThe purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of the foundational construct of connection in linking design and service in performing vital functions in the healthcare sector. Connection facilitates patients receiving life-saving and life-improving care at the right time, in the right place, in the right way.Design/methodology/approachThis article discusses various design-improvement initiatives making clear that healthcare, like any labor-intensive service delivered to people, is a human endeavor whose systems and features can be materially and cleverly enhanced once their intricacies are analyzed, understood and then redesigned to move closer to excellence.FindingsBy designing connection into healthcare and thinking holistically about the needs and preferences of users (patients), the functionality and the appeal of healthcare services can be enhanced.Originality/valueThe gap between the service that healthcare aims to deliver and what it actually delivers is unacceptably large. This article calls for incorporating connection through design into healthcare as a way to bridge this gap.

published proceedings

  • JOURNAL OF SERVICE MANAGEMENT

author list (cited authors)

  • Berry, L. L.

citation count

  • 1

complete list of authors

  • Berry, Leonard L

publication date

  • October 2020