Team Name - Medical Gatekeeper
Interviewer - Abhijeeth Linganagari Interviewee - Michael Labus Software Engineer, Cisco Date of Interview - 09/15/2016 Why/how we interviewed this person? Michael fits our millennial customer profile. Having recently graduated college from UCF and moved to bay area. It gives us a unique perspective into the younger generation and how they perceive their medical history. (In Person Interview) What hypothesis did we test? Young millennials who move away from home have difficulty transferring and accessing their medical record history. We really wanted to learn about this: How the young millennials perceive their medical records ? How often do they like to access their records or switch insurances & providers ? We learned from this interview: The current generation is very busy and very rarely visits the doctor, unless they are suffering from some illness. Michael feels good about having continuous online access to his medical records but he hasn’t visited the doctor much lately. As a kid he had always visited doctors who were family friends or referred by family friends so there was lesser unknown. We were surprised by: Surprised that he was ok with the privacy aspect of medical records being maintained by third party service. As long as it confirmed with HIPAA and other security norms he seemed ok with having his medical records online in the cloud. “Privacy is not a big thing for me, as long as it follows HIPAA process and is secure I am ok with having my medical records in the cloud”. Other interesting outcomes; what did you learn about interviewing It was interesting that he wouldn’t want to have family history included within his medical record/files. Michael preferred to keep family history private and chose to always rely on family members for that information. “Till I went to college all my medical records were maintained by my parents and even then I continued to send them copies of my blood work and other information that they usually keep track of.”
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Team Name - Medical Gatekeeper
Interviewer - Abhijeeth Linganagari Interviewee - Lakshmi Keesara IT Business Analyst, Symantec Inc. Date of Interview - 09/14/2016 Why/how we interviewed this person? Lakshmi fits our customer profile of someone who has frequently relocated within the US while working at different companies. She had to often change insurance providers and didn’t have a constant primary care provider until recently. As a new parent her perspective of medical record access is valuable. (In Person Interview) What hypothesis did we test? Over time, it is hard to maintain a consistent access to one’s health records across different primary care providers as they relocate. We really wanted to learn about this: Varied process across primary care providers with respect to accessing and transferring medical records. We learned from this interview: Due to the cumbersome process of filling forms, keeping track of medical records in paper copies and having your new provider request access from your old provider, most patients just let go of their old records. In hindsight, patients would like to have access to all their medical records. Lakshmi likes the idea of being able to track her family’s medical history and monitor its progress over time. She feels that it would make her life easier to keep track of her medications, dosage changes, refill requests etc;. We were surprised by: Medical records for newborn infants & little children are usually tied up with that of their mothers, making it even more valuable for new parents to have consistent access to their family’s medical records that they can monitor and understand. “I am more actively keen on maintaining medical records for my infant than I ever was about my medical records” Other interesting outcomes; what did you learn about interviewing: Its interesting that people do not consider their regular medical records valuable and do not take the trouble to retrieve them from previous providers unless they have some terminal illness or a big medical procedure that they deem important. Interviewer: Megan Miller
Interviewee: Leslie McMurchie, Analytics @ Ancestry.com Date: 9/20/16 Why/how? Throughout discussions with the MedGate team, Ancestry.com came up in two ways: 1) the relationship between family history and medical history; and 2) the perceived similarities in customer acquisition/retention models at Ancestry.com. We conducted the interview over phone. What hypothesis? To learn more about the company, the business models, and the interest in medical history/records. What I wanted to learn? Do customers ask about their link their medical history? Is their a component to Ancestry that includes medical? How do you acquire new customers? What did I learn? Ancestry.com has 2 main product lines: subscription service for family history and their new DNA product that provides ethnicity and relationship mapping (not medical, although the data they collect can be analyzed for medical purposes if they choose to go down that path in the future). DNA is a new space they have been exploring and recently hired a "Chief Health Officer" to explore that segment. Ancestry.com also explored collecting self-reported medical history to supplement their family tree, but she wasn't sure if that product was still live or not. They acquirer most of their customers through marketing (not word-of-mouth, like we assumed). Surprises? Although they are venturing into this new health space with the DNA product, there isn't too much interest in medical products because most of their customers are 60+ and "there is no way you'll get them to upload any medical history." She believes the target audience for their new health ventures are the younger generations because they are more comfortable with uploaded that private data. Other interesting outcomes? Learn anything about interviewing? Potential partnership with DNA services. There are recent trends of younger generations submitted DNA samples to know their full make-up. Could potentially enter all that info into App to further use the info. Team Name: Medgate
Date of Interview: Sept 20, 2016 Conducted By: Susanna Interviewee: Anthony Background: early 20’s, girlfriend and 2 year old baby, warehouse operator – new hire, No college education. Why/how we interviewed this person: At work, during break. What hypothesis did we test? People <26 years old are still on their parent’s medical insurance and might not have thought much about medical records. New parents would be interested in medical record information. We really wanted to learn about this: Are younger people a target audience? We learned from the interview: Younger people like Anthony are easy to catch on to the idea and problem and value from a technological solution, but wouldn’t likely adopt it because they aren’t in charge of making decisions about their medical healthcare provider. We were surprised by: Amount of research and knowledge about childcare that a new young parent has; Interviewee clearly is knowledgeable about the health needs of his child. Other interesting outcomes; what did you learn about interviewing Interviewee had an iPhone, but I realized not everyone might have a smartphone. How could that potentially affect our solution? Team Name: Medgate
Date of Interview: Sept 20, 2016 Conducted By: Susanna Interviewee: Catherine Background: late 20’s, journalist / analyst, worked at several small companies in northern CA. Currently 7 months pregnant. Why/how we interviewed this person: In person, casual setting, chosen for unique demographic of soon-to-be mother. What hypothesis did we test? New mothers would be interested in medical record information. We really wanted to learn about this: A person’s medical history starts at birth. Therefore, expecting mothers would be the perfect candidate to start thinking long-term about solutions to medical record gatekeeping. New moms are usually incredibly attentive to medical needs and unlikely to be “too lazy” to care about the importance of access to reliable medical information. We learned from the interview: Interviewee had the same doctor in a small rural town from birth to age 19, then transferred when she moved and had the same doctor since then. She did not feel the transition was difficult because she didn’t have “any outlandish” medical issues. They were able to transfer the shots + vaccines information easily. I learned our value proposal is weaker for people who grew up in small towns and had the same doctor their whole life; also weaker for people with few medical issues. She was able to immediately identify how to get medical records info from the KP app, indicating that younger people know and will use technology for medical information. We were surprised by: Her confidence in the system she had experienced and having no concern over what could happen in an emergency where she is not close to her healthcare provider. Other interesting outcomes; what did you learn about interviewing It is seeming to be that people who stay in the same system for long periods of time and/or don’t have too many medical issues do not see a gap in their medical information. Team Name: Medgate
Date of Interview: Sept 20, 2016 Conducted By: Susanna Interviewee: Rachel Background: early 30’s, had a baby last year, moved 4 times in past 10 years for work within the same company (Chevron), college education in Engineering. Why/how we interviewed this person: Over coffee in person, chosen because she has moved and has PPO coverage. What hypothesis did we test? New mothers would be interested in medical record information. People who move geographically would be interested in a way to carry medical record info with them seamlessly. We really wanted to learn about this: How aware are new mothers of the importance of medical records info? What organizational techniques is she using to keep medical info while moving every 2-4 years? We learned from the interview: Patient felt very stressed by having to find all new doctors every time she moved. She signed a medical release and got a hard paper copy of her child’s medical info but said some doctors like Sutter could give electronic copy. She was frustrated at having to recall family history and her own early childhood surgeries each time she switched doctors. She had not thought about an easier solution – i.e. owning her own medical record info. When I asked why she hadn’t thought of this before, she said she accepted record frustrations as “a way of life” . We were surprised by: She seemed to catch onto the idea of an app or software to hold her own medical record information immediately and googled “Medical File Tracker” and “Electronic medical file”. The first thing she clicked on was MyMedicalApp.com, a Mac software program for carrying medical records and other info. Other interesting outcomes; what did you learn about interviewing She stores emergency info in her cell phone and carries a card behind her ID that details her allergies, emergency contact, etc. Team Name: Medgate
Date of Interview: Sept 20, 2016 Conducted By: Susanna Interviewee: Felix Background: 50-60 years old, Head Warehouseman, wife, 3 kids in college, worked for Chevron for 36 years. No college education. Why/how we interviewed this person: Conducted in person at work during break. What hypothesis did we test? Testing hypothesis that medical record history information is more appealing to certain demographics. Tested hypothesis that accessing things online is more applicable for younger generation We really wanted to learn about this: Would patients with a relatively immobile lifestyle and little change in healthcare see value in a medical record solution? We learned from the interview: No, there was no perceived value – there was no perceived problem. This person had been with Kaiser Permanente for a long time and knew that medical records could be accessed via a medical secretary. We were surprised by: Didn’t know how children in college were managing their medical record ; he knew they were not going to Kaiser Permanente anymore while away from home but did not think about integrating their healthcare in school with their pediatric and future adult medical information. Other interesting outcomes; what did you learn about interviewing Although we were on break from work, interviewee seemed a bit close-minded and short – as if trying to still tackle my questions like work – instead of reflective and thoughtful. Team Name: Medgate
Date of Interview: Sept 20, 2016 Conducted By: Susanna Interviewee: Greg Background: 50-60 years old, Head Warehouseman, lived in Bay Area his whole life, wife, 1 daughter, worked for Chevron for 44 years. No college education Why/how we interviewed this person: Conducted in person at work during break. What hypothesis did we test? Testing hypothesis that medical record history information is more appealing to certain demographics. Tested hypothesis that accessing things online is more applicable for younger generation We really wanted to learn about this: Would patients with a relatively immobile lifestyle and little change in healthcare see value in a medical record solution? We learned from the interview: No, there was no perceived value – there was no perceived problem. This person had been with Kaiser Permanente their whole life and knew that medical records could be accessed via a medical secretary. We were surprised by: Even when prompted about “Would you think a medical record could be useful in an emergency situation when you are out of the KP network?” the interviewee stated that if he was travelling, he would make arrangements beforehand with medical facilities. There was no insight that owning his own record could be useful. Other interesting outcomes; what did you learn about interviewing Mentioned Ancestry.com when I asked if he knew his family history. He said he did, but didn’t have it documented anywhere but could use something like ancestry if he needed to find out. Interviewer: Megan Miller
Interviewee: Michael Hetzner, Millennial/new parent consumer Date: 9/16/16 Why? Mike is my coworker at Analytic Investors. I interviewed him in-person at the office. He is a new parent and married into a family of medical professionals. His wife and father-in-law are optometrists and his mother-in-law is a pediatrician. What hypothesis? I thought Mike would have good insight into medical record pain points as a new parent and as a sounding board to his family's view points. What I wanted to learn? Would Mike use the technology that we are proposing? Would he find it useful? What would his wife think? What are her pain points? What did I learn? He immediately saw the value of have an easy way to manage his new child's medical care, (e.g. "That'd be awesome!"). Even with a family of medical professional, none of their records are in electronic form. He explained that an app or something similar would make it easier for him, as the father, to keep track of his child's health to the same level as his wife. Surprises? Although it didn't appear that record keeping was a pain point for his wife, what was a huge pain point was authorizations - the process of the medical staff calling the insurance company before they recommend a certain procedure to the patient. Apparently this process occupies over 50% of the doctor's time and they see it as a complete waste. I wonder if we can incorporate authorizations into the app? Supplying the necessary info to the insurance company and acting as the relay? Other interesting outcomes? Learn anything about interviewing? This interview opened a potential new path of diverging on our product offering. Interested to hear from the group about the possibility of linking insurance to medical records... the consumer can see for themselves what's approved, costs, etc. and allow for more transparency in the whole medical process. Interviewer: Christine Jiang
Interviewee: Kim @ Kaiser Permanente Cardiac Department Date: 9/16/16 Why? Kim has been a nurse for 8 years and is very familiar with the processes and procedures required in health care. She works within a hospital so patients are constantly being passed along to different departments depending on their needs. As such, medical records and history is essential to having the care givers (doctors or nurses) an accurate picture of the patient's status and past medical needs and treatments. What hypothesis? My assumption was that all medical institutions and practitioners use EMRs today and are familiar with the functionality of the system but don't really have an opinion on what functionalities there are. They just need something to take notes and keep records in. What did you learn? EMR Systems: Kaiser is rather advanced in their medical record keeping system and utilizes EPIC for current patient information and CIPS for historical information. Both are a bit difficult to use and is not necessarily intuitive. Patients: A lot of times, the patients don't care about the details of their medical treatments, "...they just want the doctors to make them feel better. There hasn't been a significant increase in people who want to be more involved with their care, the EMRs have been more helpful for hospital accuracy and safety." Surprises? A lot of hospitals and healthcare providers use paper medical charts! They still have to revert back to paper charts at times because the system goes down during maintenance and updates. It was surprising to see that they don't have a robust back up for the system. Other interesting outcomes? Learn anything about interviewing? When patients arrive from other hospitals and come with paper records, a medical secretary will input the general background information but the doctor will key in all the technical medical information with the patient there. |
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