Designing a patient onboarding in a multidisciplinary severe asthma unit

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Design
• Patient Experience
• Asthma Management

Background:

• Severe asthma units require optimized patient onboarding to address specific patient and professional needs.
• Current onboarding processes may lack structure, personalization, and effective communication channels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a patient onboarding process for a multidisciplinary severe asthma unit.
• To align the onboarding process with the identified needs of both patients and healthcare professionals.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study employing human-centered design principles.
• Conducted three workshops involving patients, professionals, and methodology experts.
• Utilized patient experience mapping, solution selection, and iterative development (sprints).

Main Results:

• Identified key patient needs: improved disease control, autonomy, two-way communication, and coordinated care.
• Identified key professional needs: standardized information, structured communication, and effective patient engagement.
• Developed a structured onboarding process with defined key moments, involved professionals, and tailored tools (e.g., patient diary, infographics).

Conclusions:

• The designed onboarding process standardizes care, promotes self-care, and facilitates open, empathetic communication.
• The standardized onboarding environment addresses critical patient and professional needs in severe asthma management.
• Findings offer a transferable model for other multidisciplinary care units seeking to improve patient onboarding.