We have all been healthcare patients at some stage of our lives. We have dealt with the wait times, the overcrowded environments, the lack of compassion and empathy, the poor communication, the disorientation; but what if we didn’t have too?
The ‘Welcome to Austin’ App provides consumers with a series of functions that improve their experience. These improvements include the opportunity to book, cancel and receive last minute appointments offers and automatic check-in. Once check-in is completed, the App displays real-time information regarding available facilities, amenities and how far off your appointment is, allowing you to wait how you please. Alongside these features the app offers way-finding, news and events, live chat, pre and post appointment information, transport and parking information and anything else a patient could ever want.

The benefits do not finish with patients, the application will benefit the organisation in a number of ways. These benefits include the optimization of human and economic resources by decreasing patient no-shows; and the improvement of communication between Austin Health and consumers.

Developing this project I explored the full potential of building up co-design capability within a healthcare organisation, and by doing this demonstrated the benefits that collaborating with patients in design ventures can bring to the healthcare systems. My design proposition responds to needs of patients and their families in the digital age, it envisions a future healthcare system where our engagement with hospitals is not limited to physical buildings, but expands across online platforms and virtual spaces.

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