On October 23, grantees of the national  Health Care Access Design Challenge gathered in Washington DC to present business pitches for the solutions their groups have chosen to pursue. Price Armstrong, Manager of Planning and Analysis at the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, and Smith College Professor Moumita Dasgupta represented the Pioneer Valley team. They pitched a proposal for three Transportation Specialists to assist patients of Springfield-area medical facilities, with a focus on the BeHealthy Partnership, an Accountable Care Organization. The Transportation Specialists would assist community health workers in navigating transportation options to find the best fit for a patient's needs. A proposed IT integration would give the Transportation Specialists access to limited patient data in order to facilitate trip arrangement without violating privacy.

 

With support from the National Center for Mobility Management, Armstrong, Dasgupta, and other members of their team developed this solution through an intensive Design Thinking process, which uses facilitation techniques and tools to shape a customer-focused process where the needs of the end-users are always at the center. Using interviews, focus groups, roundtables, and all-day workshops, the team developed three potential solutions and then narrowed it down to one. They are currently finalizing a business plan and applying for grants to implement their concept.

 

"Patients find it really stressful to think about how they're going to get to their medical appointments. There are a lot of options, but it's very confusing to navigate. The eligibility, the geographic scope, the cost...it all varies from one program to the next. Having someone to help sort all that out on behalf of patients and medical staff would be useful and could remove that level of stress. We're hopeful we can demonstrate that this improves quality of life and health outcomes," explains Armstrong.