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Updated on : 25 Aug 2025
Did you know that nearly two-thirds of adults report managing healthcare as “overwhelming” and “time-consuming”? Every step, from scheduling appointments to understanding complex medical jargon, can seem daunting.
Although technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, why does managing our health still feel like deciphering an ancient, cryptic script?
Although our current healthcare system is progressing continuously, it is still impersonal and disconnected from patients. Pharmaceutical companies often tend to spend much less time on directly asking patients what they actually need, even though they frequently engage with healthcare professionals (HCPs). Improved engagement with patients is critical, as it allows pharma companies to understand their preferences and work toward developing products and services that are better aligned with the needs of their patients.
In this guide, we will delve into the heart of patient-centered design – not only as a concept but also as a critical necessity. We will explore how it can revolutionize the way patients interact with healthcare and pharma organizations, the technology that supports them, and ultimately, how they perceive and manage their health.
Why are current platforms not delivering adequate patient-centered context?
Millions of health and wellness applications (or apps) are available online that witness hundreds of downloads every minute. However, the growing concern is the staggering rate at which these apps are deleted within 24 hours of being downloaded.
Understanding the reasons behind this rapid disengagement is vital as it raises important questions about current patient experience design and the overall effectiveness of these applications in promoting wellness – all demanding the attention from both organizations and developers.
Following are several factors contributing to this high deletion rate:
Unmet expectations
Users often download apps expecting certain functionalities or benefits. However, when apps fail to deliver on their promises or lack both usability and the necessary empathy driven content that users can relate to, users swiftly opt for uninstallation.
Usability issues
Health apps frequently suffer from issues related to complexity, featuring interfaces that are often overwhelming or challenging to navigate. Users may search for another, more user-friendly interface if they find an interface confusing or the app difficult to use.
Lack of personalization
Many health apps fall short in delivering personalized experiences, overlooking the importance of adapting to the distinct needs and preferences of individuals. Consequently, users often feel disconnected or dissatisfied, seeking apps that offer customized solutions aligned with their unique wellness goals.
Privacy and security concerns
Inadequate data protection measures or privacy concerns can deter users from continuing with an app. This happens specifically in the case of sensitive or protected health information.
Performance and bugs
Technical glitches, crashes, slow loading times, or frequent bugs within the app lead to a poor user experience and frustration, prompting users to delete the app.
How does patient-centered healthcare design benefit users?
The push for more patient-centered design has been gaining momentum, fundamentally altering the dynamics between patients, doctors, and life sciences companies. This shift toward prioritizing the needs and experiences of all involved parties is not just a trend but also a revolution in the making, as made clear by the spirited #WeAreNotWaiting movement.
Originating within the diabetes community, the #WeAreNotWaiting movement embodies a powerful call to action. Patients, no longer willing to wait for solutions to be handed down from the traditional healthcare industry, have taken matters into their own hands. By leveraging technology and data, they are developing and sharing innovative solutions to manage their conditions more effectively. This movement is an excellent example of patient experience design in action, showcasing how empowering patients to actively participate in their care can lead to groundbreaking advancements that benefit the broader community.
For patients, the impact is immediate and profound. They gain access to tools and resources that enable better management of their health conditions, leading to improved outcomes and quality of life.
Doctors, on the other hand, benefit from a more informed and engaged patient population. This can lead to more effective communication, shared decision-making, and ultimately, more personalized care.
Lastly, pharma companies gain valuable insights from the real-world data and experiences shared by patients. This can guide in the development of new treatments and services that are more closely aligned with the needs of patient.
What are the benefits of patient-centered design for patients?
1. Improved patient experiences
Patient-centered design prioritizes the needs of the individuals and delivers a more personalized care experience. It revolves around key design elements, meticulously crafted to elevate the overall experience of users:
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Spaces that can be tailored to individual needs, ensuring flexibility and comfort throughout the care journey
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Design configurations that consider emotional well-being, create environments, promote comfort, and reduce stress or anxiety
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Interfaces that are intuitive and easy to navigate, empowering patients to seamlessly engage with medical resources and services
2. Enhanced communication
Nearly 70% of medical errors are linked to communication problems during care transitions. Thoughtfully integrated design features improvement in communication channels between patients and healthcare providers. This is achieved with:
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Interfaces that simplify access to information or services, aiding patients in navigating medical resources effortlessly.
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Well-designed signage that guides patients, ensuring easy navigation and reducing confusion within healthcare settings
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Purpose-built spaces that foster privacy and comfort, facilitating meaningful discussions between patients and HCPs
3. Increased engagement
Patient-centered design places a strong emphasis on involving users throughout their wellness journey, fostering a sense of engagement and empowerment among patients through:
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Customizable environments that cater to individual needs, promoting a sense of ownership and involvement in the healthcare experience
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Interfaces that enable patients to interact seamlessly with medical assistance, encouraging active engagement and informed decision making
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Incorporating interactive elements that invite patient participation, such as educational tools or self-assessment features, fosters a sense of collaboration in managing one’s health
4. Emotional support
Patient-centered design prioritizes the comfort and well-being of patients, which is essential for fostering an empathetic wellness environment. Several thoughtful design considerations contribute to cultivating a calming and supportive atmosphere, alleviating anxiety and stress often associated with medical visits or hospital stays:
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Implementing soothing color palettes and soft visual elements within the app interface to create a calming effect, reduce stress, and enhance user experience
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Designing an easy-to-navigate interface that prioritizes user comfort, ensuring a seamless and stress-free experience while using the app.
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Implementing design elements that demonstrate empathy toward the emotional well-being of users, considering their comfort and mental ease while interacting with the app
5. Empowerment and control
Solutions designed with a patient-centered approach prioritize the preferences and autonomy of individuals. They also foster a sense of control over the medical assistance journey of users, empowering users to participate actively in their medical care decisions. Following are some of the design choices offering more empowerment and control:
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Providing readily available and comprehensive knowledge within the app interface, conveniently enabling patients to access resources, treatment details, and health records
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Designating areas within the app that encourage collaboration between patients and HCPs, fostering open discussions and shared decision making
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Integrating features that allow patients to personalize their care plans or treatment approaches based on their preferences, promoting a sense of ownership and active involvement
What are the benefits of patient-centered design for pharma organizations?
By placing patients at the center of the design process, patient-centric healthcare design not only improves the experiences and outcomes for patients but also optimizes workflows and the working environment for health service providers
Improved workflow
Optimized designs play a crucial role in streamlining workflows for HCPs, resulting in more efficient care delivery. For instance, intuitive interface layouts and integrated tools within apps can minimize navigation time, allowing HCPs to access patient data swiftly and focus more on providing adequate care rather than navigating complex interfaces.
Enhanced patient outcomes
Patient-centric environments significantly contribute to improved patient outcomes by reducing readmission rates and enhancing recovery times. For instance, personalized care plans and interactive features within the app facilitate better patient engagement. In addition, streamlined access to educational resources and support services assists patients in managing their health more effectively.
Better communication and collaboration
Spaces that encourage interaction among medical teams foster better communication. For example, designated areas within the app that facilitate real-time messaging or shared documentation among HCPs enable seamless information exchange. This, in turn, streamlines decision making processes, ensuring more coordinated and efficient patient care
Reduced stress and burnout
A well-designed environment can alleviate stress among medical aid providers, contributing to lower rates of burnout and higher job satisfaction. For example, incorporating features such as task prioritization, clear navigation, and simplified documentation processes can streamline workflows. This helps to reduce the mental workload and allows health-related providers to focus more on patient care.
Efficiency and cost-effectiveness
Patient-centered design significantly contributes to cost-effectiveness. For instance, user-friendly interfaces and accessible information enable quicker access to patient data, potentially reducing the length of hospital stays. Moreover, streamlined appointment scheduling or telehealth features can enhance resource utilization, minimizing unnecessary in-person visits, ultimately leading to cost savings and improved efficiency
What are the key best practices to achieve patient-centered design in healthcare and pharma?
To truly revolutionize healthcare and pharma user experiences, you must focus on effective patient-centered designs that prioritize ease, responsiveness, and empathy at every step.
1. Innovative design approaches
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Adaptive user interfaces: Accommodate various user preferences and accessibility needs, with personalized settings that ensure a truly patient-centered experience
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Personalized health journeys: Offer customized health journeys, incorporating patient data, preferences, and treatment plans. This helps to tailor the user experience and support individual wellness goals
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Gamification for engagement: Integrate gamification elements within healthcare apps to make health management interactive and engaging for patients, thereby boosting adherence to treatment plans
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AI-driven personalization and predictive patient experiences: With the latest advances in artificial intelligence, healthcare organizations can now anticipate patient needs and deliver truly personalized care. By analyzing real-time data,such as past appointments, app usage, and biometrics, AI tools provide patients with relevant information and support before they even ask. These smart systems help care teams customize reminders, education, and self-care tips for each individual, leading to higher engagement and fewer missed appointments.
2. Technological integration approaches
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AI-driven assistance: Healthcare apps leveraging patient-centric AI algorithms provide personalized recommendations, symptom analysis, and real-time support. Therefore, they empower patients to make more informed health decisions
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IOT connectivity for monitoring: This allows for seamless monitoring of patient vitals, medication adherence, and lifestyle patterns, fostering proactive healthcare management.
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Telehealth solutions: Facilitate virtual consultations to enable patients to connect with HCPs remotely, enhancing accessibility and convenience.
3. Accessible and inclusive design approaches
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Accessibility features: Incorporate accessibility features such as screen readers, voice commands, and adjustable font sizes to ensure usability for individuals with diverse abilities.
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Customizable user profiles: This leverages the capacity to accommodate diverse preferences, language choices, and accessibility settings, cultivating a highly personalized experience.
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Sensory-considerate design: Incorporate features such as adjustable contrast, audio descriptions, and tactile feedback for users with sensory sensitivities, enhancing usability and engagement for the users.
How do you implement inclusive patient-centred design in healthcare and pharma?
Incorporating user-centered and inclusive design requires a multifaceted approach. It involves understanding the diverse needs of patients and strategically integrating collected data and insights into every level of healthcare.
This requires both the knowledge of patient-centred design best practices and the knowledge of the latest design developments and approaches from across the industry. The right design and consulting partner can help to bridge this gap, giving you the ability to fast-track key initiatives.
These strategies are designed keeping empathy in mind and create spaces, services, and products that are inclusive, responsive to the diverse needs of patients, and are centered on the patient experience.
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Assessment of patient needs
Start by conducting thorough assessments to understand diverse patient needs, preferences, and challenges within healthcare settings.
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Research and analysis
Explore designs that align with patient-centric principles, and evaluate how these designs can address specific medical challenges or improve patient experiences.
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Collaborative design workshops
Engage your internal stakeholder teams and your consultant of choice in collaborative workshops. Brainstorm ideas, combining healthcare innovations with design principles, ensuring they meet patient-centric goals. This collaboration will allow for iterative innovation, refining patient-centric designs based on real-world insights and practical applications within healthcare settings.
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Prototyping and testing
Develop prototypes integrating patient-centric designs and conduct testing with diverse patient groups. Gather feedback to refine and tailor these innovations to suit patient’s needs better.
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Implementing and monitoring
Roll out the finalized designs into healthcare facilities while continuously monitoring their impact on patient experiences. Do not forget to gather data and feedback for ongoing improvements.
Leading-edge trends that will shape patient-centered design in 2025 and beyond
The future of patient-centered healthcare design holds promising trends and critical considerations. It is all set to shape the evolution of patient-focused innovations while addressing ethical and regulatory aspects. Here are some future trends for patient-centered healthcare.
1. Precision medicine & genomics
Patient experiences increasingly must include genetic and biometric data. New patient portals can turn complex test results into clear guidance and personalized care plans. Wearables can feed real-time health data into these profiles, while strong consent processes ensure transparency and trust.
2. Digital therapeutics & engagement
Digital therapeutics (DTx) are now proven, regulated tools, with top health systems use engaging, modular DTx apps with gamification and microlearning to boost healthy habits. Clear ROI measures can help integrate these digital therapies into mainstream care.
3. Sustainability in healthcare design
Eco-friendly materials and design are now essential. Hospitals adopt renewable energy, reduce waste, and use biophilic design (like plants and natural light) to boost patient well-being and recovery. Tracking environmental metrics helps align health and sustainability goals.
4. Mental health & trauma-informed care
Thoughtful design can help all patients feel safe and supported, especially those with mental health needs. This includes calming colors, quiet zones, flexible private spaces, and features that reduce sensory overload and stress.
5. Health equity & inclusive design
True inclusion means designing for diverse languages, cultures, and abilities. Involving under-represented groups in the design process and using simple, accessible features ensures all patients are engaged and no one is left behind. Tracking equity metrics ensures ongoing accountability.
6. Virtual care evolution and hybrid experience design
Telehealth has grown into smart hybrid care models that mix virtual and in-person visits. AI triage agents can help guide patients to the right care, whether a video call, remote monitoring, or clinic appointment. Virtual reality is also used for pain relief and patient education, adding immersive therapy options. Designing smooth transitions between digital and physical care is key to maintaining continuity and strong support.
7. Next-generation patient engagement platforms
Future-ready patient engagement platforms can do much more than send reminders. They offer outreach over multiple channels, SMS, apps, voice assistants, and social media, personalized to each individual’s needs and circumstances. Gamification, like challenges and leaderboards, encourages prevention and ongoing care. Wearables and home devices provide data that power predictive models, allowing proactive outreach before health issues worsen
8. Advanced interoperability and seamless care ecosystems
Interoperability is now essential, powered by API-first designs and standardized data formats like FHIR. Patient portals can combine information from EHRs, pharmacies, and remote monitoring into a clear, unified health timeline. Blockchain-based consent tools can give patients control over who can access their data, enhancing privacy. These connected systems reduce paperwork, avoid repeated tests, and build patient trust in data security.
9. AI-driven personalization
Advanced AI algorithms will drive highly personalized medical wellness experiences, utilizing patients for predictive analytics, treatment recommendations, and individualized care plans.
10. Virtual and augmented reality integration
Expanding the use of AR/VR (Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality) technologies through patient designs will revolutionize patient education, pain management, and therapy within healthcare settings.
11. Biometric monitoring and wearable technology
Technological advancements in wearable devices and biometric sensors will enhance remote patient monitoring experiences, providing real-time data for proactive and personalized care.
12. Patient data privacy
Ethical considerations around patient data privacy and security within patient healthcare designs will require stringent adherence to regulations such as HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). They must also ensure the protection of the sensitive health information of their patients.
Regulatory intelligence and compliance by design
Integrating regulatory requirements early in the design process helps ensure compliance and speeds up product launches. Privacy-by-design approaches embed HIPAA, GDPR, and other rules into user experiences from the start, reducing costly changes later. Digital therapeutics teams keep detailed, audit-ready records following FDA guidelines, while multilingual consent features support global research and care.
A centralized dashboard tracks regulation updates and links them to affected user journeys, helping design teams stay ahead of changes. In addition, regulatory bodies will need to navigate patient licensing agreements. This will help to ensure fair usage of technologies in medical care, balancing innovation incentives with broader societal benefits.
In conclusion
The future of patient-centered design for healthcare and life sciences is poised to witness transformative innovations and stands at the forefront of improving healthcare experiences by prioritizing and tailoring these to focus on individual needs.
Pharma organizations must embrace innovative experiential solutions that prioritize patient wellbeing across their digital ecosystems, where healthcare spaces are not just functional but also empathetic, personalized, and truly patient-centric.
Selecting the right design and consulting partner for your patient-centered design initiatives, including the integration of patient-centered design into your core digital offerings, demands both careful consideration and strategic partnership. Indegene offers specialized expertise, extensive experience in patient-centric design implementations, and the ability to seamlessly integrate across diverse technologies. Reach out to us to get started on your patient-centered design journey.
Authors
Vittal Iyer,
Director – User Experience
Vinod Gowda,
Senior Manager – User Experience
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