Re-designing access to mental health treatment
How we designed an approval process for Bupa that reduced burden on the customer.
Context & Objectives
Our team at Hellon embarked on a three-month partnership with Bupa, aimed at mapping and re-designing the pathways for customers seeking access to mental health treatment. The primary goals were twofold: to alleviate the burden on customers and to optimize bureaucratic procedures, all while adhering to best-practice clinical standards. The pathways under scrutiny involved a spectrum of stakeholders, ranging from customers and service advisors to administrative staff, nurses, and healthcare providers.
Role
I worked in a team with a lead and a senior service designer. We collaborated closely with the client’s scrum team and fed into their two-week sprints.
My role consisted of:
- Reviewing literature
- Writing interview guides and co-leading interviews
- Co-analysing interviews
- Process mapping
- Co-planning and co-facilitating a client workshop
- Presenting insights to the client
- Concept development
- Co-writing the final report
Approach
A. I reviewed briefing documents, customer feedback data and process maps sent by the client. I then planned and co-led interviews with project stakeholders, service advisors, nurses, healthcare providers and industry experts
B. I co-analysed the interviews with a Service Designer and a member of the client scrum team and led in the creation of detailed process maps in Miro.
C. I presented the research insights to the client and then co-planned and co-facilitated a client workshop.
D. I analysed ideas generated during the workshop and developed a set of concepts. These were then used to inform the creation of a re-designed set of process maps.
E. Finally, I collaborated with my team to co-create the final report and provided supporting material to explain how the re-designed process maps would work.
Outputs
The output was a final report which included research insights, concepts and process maps.
Impact
The project provided the client with a clear view of the problems and opportunities with their existing processes for approving mental health treatment. Furthermore, it gave them actionable guidance on how to reduce administrative burden and improve customer satisfaction while following best-practice clinical guidelines.
Reflections
Despite constraints such as client sensitivities and truncated timelines, we acknowledged the importance of customer feedback and validation of redesigned processes. While unable to conduct customer interviews within the project scope, we transparently communicated this limitation to the client, urging them to pursue further research beyond our engagement.
If you are interested in any of my work, feel free to get in touch with me at peter77waters@gmail.com or connect on LinkedIn.
