‘Consultation room of the future’ for UMC Utrecht

The polyclinic

Future-proof, patient-centric innovation was the aim of the playground organised by WeLLDesign with the UMCU. A week-long co-creation session in collaboration with the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, the UMC Utrecht, and Muzus. This resulted in the outpatients' department of the future.

WeLLDesign, collaborating with specialists in healthcare, design, gaming, and trendwatching, sketched out the future Polyclinic 2020 and associated services. This was labelled as an innovative vision for future healthcare. The emphasis is currently on more prevention, with a significant role for mental wellness and self-management.

Information and prevention, mental wellbeing, diagnostics and treatment were categorised by privacy levels. User scenarios with personas revealed that a visit can be quick and efficient, but also consciously less speedy and focused on human contact, depending on the individual healthcare seeker.

Of the future

Bij Mime, The future Electronic Health Record (EHR), MiMe, puts you, the patient, in control. It will be a personal tool that reflects your health. MiMe registers, manages, and communicates your condition, and can coach you in following therapy. An aid for both patient and healthcare provider.

Syntens: ‘An inspiring example of a co-creation process.

The design of the new UMCU Outpatient Clinic started with what it's all about: the consultation. The core question: how do you achieve an optimal and equitable consultation between doctor and patient, with a consulting room that meets the wishes of both parties? An intensive and inspiring co-creation process brought about the necessary core insights and immediately formed the basis for the new design.

WellDesign created visualisations and 1:1 models with staff from the UMCU (healthcare providers, IT, technical services) and patients and their families. Direct feedback to working groups was a good move, as it ensured broad and enthusiastic support within the UMCU. An excellent example of Co-Design: doctors, nurses and patients contributed their ideas and are now ambassadors for a fantastic outcome.

Realisation and evaluation; the consultation room scored an 8.5 in a six-month study involving specialists and patients! The room adds more quality to the consultation, is multidisciplinary, and broadly applicable. The design is now the basis for the complete construction plan of the new UMCU Polyclinic.