Patient Check-in
Improving how Veterans check in to appointments and file for travel reimbursement
Background &
Summary
The patient check-in (PCI) product reimagines the ecosystem that allows a Veteran to check in for a medical appointment. As part of my work for VA.gov, I was on the team tasked to maintain and improve this ecosystem through which Veterans can use their smartphone to check in through VA.gov. The products included Check-in (with the option to file for travel reimbursement) and Pre-check-in.
Our team, composed of designers, engineers, product managers, and content and accessibility specialists. While working through ongoing iterations, we completed continuous discovery and research with Veterans and VA staff, navigated business challenges, and addressed numerous technical constraints.
The underlying goal of this work was to mitigate pain points surrounding the check-in ecosystem and grow our products to increasingly address Veterans' unmet needs with iterations to the user experience. The improvements made allowed Veterans to quickly and easily check in for their appointments and file their corresponding travel reimbursement claims.
My Roles & Responsibilities
Senior Designer (later Staff Designer) for Ad Hoc LLC, working on digital services for the Department of Veterans Affairs
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Led design discovery, Veteran-facing research, business discussions, and VA Collaboration Cycle reviews
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Collaborated with product, engineering, and stakeholders to continuously release product improvements
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Worked with content team, accessibility specialists, and IA specialists to uncover and address any areas of the Patient Check-in Experience that needed attention
Deliverables &
Tools Used
Deliverables: Research materials (conversation guides, research plans, transcripts, synthesis Mural board) and findings report, low-fi wireframes, high-fi mockups, accessible CodePen prototypes, Figma prototypes, Mural service maps
Tools used: Figma, CodePen, Mural, User Research (remote unmoderated and remote moderated)
Many of Patient Check-in's most significant challenges lay outside the product but nevertheless needed to be addressed via Check-in due to technical constraints with other systems. These challenges included:
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Slow adoption by older Veterans due to mistrust or unfamiliarity of digital tools
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Poor wifi in VA facilities leading to application errors and timeouts
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Uncertainty from staff as far as how to discuss and promote the tool
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Facility wayfinding challenges
Additionally, Veterans needed a way to file for travel reimbursement that was not slow and cumbersome, which we were tasked to add to the Check-in flow.
Project Overview
Problem
Process
In order to maintain and advance the products in the check-in experience ecosystem, our team maintained extensive documentation and design and research artifacts maintained comprehensive service maps of the entire process.
We regularly carried out research studies in which we spoke to Veterans and staff in both remote and in-person interviews and usability testing. We completed an initial usability study, held walkthroughs from scheduling staff, and observed live production testing in which Veterans went to their accounts and tried out the scheduling process as our team observed. Our research, along with ongoing data collected for user feedback, was integral to our product improvements, which continuously evolved as we encountered and addressed new usability concerns, technical challenges, and business challenges.
Solution
Our resulting iteration offers a seamless experience through which Veterans can check in for an appointment and file their travel reimbursement claim. To use the tool, Veterans receive an SMS notification, from which they can navigate through a few short steps to confirm their contact information, check in for their appointment, and file for travel. Though Veterans still have the option to talk to staff if needed, this process allows them to complete all three of these steps without relying on staff for assistance.
Though used by a small, but loyal, subset of Veterans, this tool had a large impact on filing for travel reimbursement for VA medical appointments in that it paved the way for similar tools that were later applied to Appointments on VA.gov and the VA Health & Benefits App. These tools were based entirely on the Check-in travel reimbursement process, and were able to be quickly spun up on these platforms due to the extensive work already done for the Check-in Experience. As a result, in the span of a few years, Veterans went from relying on a paper form or an online filing system widely considered confusing, to having three simple, quick, and accessible methods through which to choose from to file their claims.
Conclusion + Future Opportunities
The changes completed for this initiative helped improve the Veteran experience around checking in for appointments and filing for travel reimbursement for those appointments.
The team continues to apply human-centered design principles to this work and consider the future of check-in and pre-check-in carefully as it relates to the rest of Appointments on VA.gov. Future iterations will be informed by additional research we hope to complete, as more research could help identify any remaining pain points.