SPARCing Innovation

Matt Maleska, one of two designers at the Mayo Clinic's groundbreaking SPARC Innovation Program visited the BIF/ RISD Healthcare Innovation Project team. Launched in 2003, SPARC, which stands for See, Plan, Act, Refine, and Communicate, was created to generate a new set of ways to meet the needs of patients; to revamp traditional medical practices and design more efficient and effective doctor-patient relationships.

Maleska is no stranger to Rhode Island. He completed his degree in industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001 and went to work at the Mayo Clinic after a year as a Fulbright fellow at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India. He also attended BIF's first Collaborative Innovation Summit and the Design Continuum workshop on Creating a Compelling Customer Experience.

Maleska noted that the SPARC program grew out of an initial collaboration between Mayo and Ideo, a major design consultancy firm: "Ideo opened Mayo's perspective on what design is." At the same time, the idea of refining practices and products through experimentation was natural for medical professionals. "What Mayo was hoping to do was to have a laboratory. Medicine understands the need for experimentation." At first, Mayo brought individuals with formal design training in-house, full-time as part of an interdisciplinary team of designers, project managers and doctors. The hospital created a live clinical lab for the team with examining rooms across the hallway from design studios. Maleska observed that this spatial design allows for flexibility and speed: "We can take a prototype from the studio to the field just by walking across the corridor."

Changing demographics and market conditions pose new challenges for healthcare, whether it's provided at the Mayo Clinic's facilities in Minnesota or a primary care physician's office in Rhode Island. "Healthcare is one of the only industries where the customer is removed from financial decisions. How do we being to inform our patients about those choices?" To address thse new challenges, Maleska's group is currently addressing issues of exam room design and sharing of digital information about patients. And their next set of projects will focus on how medical staff communicate with patients. "Many patients leave the hospital with an unclear understanding of their conditions, and are then forced to go back to providers," costing the system more resources.

The team was receptive to Maleska's ideas and eager to share their insights. Team member Gwen Frederick told Maleska of her optimism about the group's progress, noting that "we're on the verge of getting deeper insights" into the patient experience. Jackie Guido echoed Frederick: based on their research, the team is "starting to make assumptions and test those assumptions during interviews with doctors and patients." For Maleska, the team's strategy is right on track, and in line with techniques used at the SPARC program. "Even in our own work, we have a ‘pre-search' phase that includes interviews, observational research, journal research and bringing in stakeholders."

RELATED LINKS

• BIF-RISD Healthcare Innovation Project: Read the play-by--play of Week 4 activities