The Patient Revolution

Chapter 4

Ideation

The Fun Part

The ideation stage is the next step of the design thinking process (Figure 4.1), and it's also the fun part. In this stage we combine the understanding we have of the problem space and the people we're designing for with our imaginations to generate solution concepts. Ideation is about pushing for the widest possible range of ideas from which you can select, not simply finding a single best solution. So taking the inspiration we gained, the problems we found (our criteria), and what we learned about patient desires, what does the ideal healthcare system look like?

Figure 4.1 Ideation is the Next Step of Design Thinking

Healthcare 2020

Last year, my friend and colleague Dr. Graham Hughes, who's chief medical officer at SAS, wrote a piece entitled “Healthcare 2020” that I think is appropriate to share in this chapter. Here are some of Graham's thoughts on a revolutionary healthcare system.

It's August 1, 2020, and my heads-up display just sent me a priority health notification. I wasn't surprised, because I had used my newly downloaded phone app to walk me through the process of configuring my preferences for health notifications. When I opened the notification, my smart health app recommended five things I should do now if I want to reduce my chance of hospital admission by 20 percent next year, minimize my (ever increasing) out-of-pocket ...