August 14, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is collaborating with GE Healthcare to improve the individual healthcare user experience through design thinking, a process which identifies opportunities for innovation, anticipates needs of users, utilizes empathy and creativity as part of the user experience, and efficiently and cost-effectively helps develop new ideas and create solutions.
In addition, the two partners will work together to accelerate innovation and commercialization in health care by bringing together the expertise of their teams to create new solutions.
“It’s our mission at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center to improve people’s lives through innovation in research, education and patient care, and our partnership with GE Healthcare will enable us to realize our mission more rapidly,” said Dr. Clay Marsh, chief innovation officer for the Medical Center and executive director of its IDEA Studio for Healthcare and Design, which was created to improve the health of patients and help deliver personalized health to Ohio State communities.
Through the convergence of technology development and design thinking, the IDEA Studio, along with GE Healthcare, will focus on identifying important gaps or critical problems and create technologies and solutions to eliminate these problems, such as the need for more specific diagnostic and therapeutic solutions in cancer or the need for more precise solutions for patients with movement disorders. In addition, by applying design thinking, focusing on human interactions with these solutions will provide exceptional healthcare experiences for patients and families.
“One of the challenges of healthcare delivery is that it too often lacks emotion and storytelling," said Bob Schwartz, general manager of global design and user experience at GE Healthcare. "What we’re doing with Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center is trying to remedy this exact problem – by focusing not just on form and function alongside state-of-the-art medical technology, but also on the patient’s experience and comfort level."
“We’re excited to be able to leverage our strengths by bringing together the talent and expertise of GE Healthcare. By joining forces, we’ll help to build an ecosystem that makes the optimal healthcare user experience accessible and affordable,” said Marsh, also vice dean for innovation at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
Contact: Sherri Kirk, Wexner Medical Center Public Affairs and Media Relations, 614-293-3737, or Sherri.Kirk@osumc.edu