33% decrease in the drop-out rate of the appointment booking process through digitisation

As the largest chain of private hospitals in Portugal, CUF provides healthcare services to over 989.000 people annually. Our challenge was to revamp the MyCUF app to be seamlessly integrated into a patient’s medical appointment journey. With that challenge we dived into the future of healthcare, creating a future proof structure that allows (digital) healthcare innovation.

Client

CUF

Challenge

Revamping the MyCUF app to be seamlessly integrated into a patient's medical appointment journey.

Impact

A decrease in the drop-out rate of the appointment flow by 30 percentage points.

How we approached this challenge.

Together with users and specialists of medical processes we empathised with the patients and immersed ourselves in their needs. We mapped a healthcare journey, which starts way before patients are checking-in into a hospital and ends a few steps after the medical appointment is over. It allowed us to clearly identify the opportunity areas to improve patients’ experience at CUF hospitals. In 5 UX sprints we redesigned the complete MyCUF app with which we want to contribute to the improvement of lives of 989.000 patients every year.

Biggest accelerators.

  1. Due to COVID-19 the need for improving the user experience was even higher, because less people could go to the hospital physically.
  2. A lot of dropouts on the current appointment flow, overflowing service desk with calls.
  3. Decreasing front desk workload and time spent in the hospital for making appointments and checking in.

Uncovering the user needs.

Before imagining the first screen or even a button of the new MyCUF app, we deeply immersed ourselves into the patient’s experience. Not an easy task, considering that it can be a very emotional and many times physically painful experience, not only for the patients but also to their closed ones. To help the case, due to COVID-19 lockdown we approached this project in a fully remote way.

After conducting several in-depth interviews with a quite diverse group of patients and analysing the homework in the form of context mapping exercises, some patterns started to emerge. We analysed all insights in order to build a current customer journey of the patients visit to a (private) hospital, the journey which extends beyond the appointment itself.

Not knowing the exact circuit that I should follow when I have a health problem makes me feel anxious.

— interviewee

A future proof navigation structure.

In order to increase the relevance of the app and its features we needed to shuffle the complete navigational structure. We organized open card sorting sessions to gain accurate insights on users’ mental patterns.

With these insights and the knowledge of future features we were able to create a scalable solution that can be worked upon the upcoming years.

Working with Koos was a great experience and definitely a learning process on how to become a more customer-centric organization. We kick-started the process of improving the MyCUF app and realized the importance of never stop gathering feedback from users to allow continuous improvement. The My CUF is now better prepared to incorporate our ambition towards the future of healthcare digital services.

— Inês, product owner MyCUF app

Your appointment booked in a few clicks.

Users want to book their appointment or exam whenever they feel the need. Often as fast as possible. Based upon user research we created a booking flow with a conversational approach. In this conversational flow, users are able to quickly find the nearest timeslot – or another slot which suits their needs.

By closely examining all user needs we came up with different scenarios for booking appointments. From these insights we made it possible for families to book several appointments at once through a simple and guided flow.

For users in urgent need of a consult it has been made possible to quickly scan for emergency rooms in their area – or to even book a video consult on short term.

A step by step through your appointment.

When the appointment is near; they user will be able to check-in through their phone. With this solution the hospital is able to decrease the workload of the front desk and people organizing around kiosks.

When checked in, the users will be guided to the location of their treatment and will be informed on their waiting time – keeping them in the loop.

After the appointment they are able to settle everything from payment to an absence declaration through the app. In case of follow-up consults, exams or drug-prescription, they will all be presented in the trusted environment of the app. Making it easy for users to proceed at their own pace and preferred time.

Managing loved ones within your Care group.

Based upon user research we found it is very important to users to care for family members or loved ones. In order to make sure these needs are fulfilled within the app we developed a management system called “care group” in which people can be added and managed. For example the children of clients. Through this feature we made it possible to easily manage and book a loved ones appointment. Making sure quick access to needed care is available to all.

I need myself but also my husband, children, family to be healthy

— interviewee

The outcome of the project.

In the end we had a blast working together with CUF to create the new digital experience for CUF patients. A couple of our end results are:

  • The new redesign created a modern and easy-to-use app.
  • We decreased the drop-out rate by 33 percentage points so far on the appointment booking process.
  • Patients are able to experience their whole medical appointment journey from out of their pockets or at their desktops at home.
  • The CUF team adapted a customer-centric way of working.

 

And there is more to come.

This was just the beginning of our collaboration with CUF, at the moment we are already working on new innovations with them within the future of healthcare.

The brainpower behind this project

Ask them more about this case!

Get in touch

Lizza Kempe

Our designer focuses on inclusivity, making sure everyone feels welcomed at the party of her designs.