Mapping, Evaluation, and Scaling of Innovative Actions in the Healthcare Sector Using Service Design Methodology

Abstract

Due to the situation caused by the pandemic, healthcare services are overwhelmed and safety measures require the reduction of in-person services. In this context, healthcare centers and services implement innovative actions to adapt to the circumstances. The Aragonese Institute of Health Sciences (IACS) decides to compile the innovative actions presented during the Quality in Health Workshops, editions XIX and XX, to study the possibility of transferring them to other centers or contexts and their continuity after the pandemic situation. In order for the innovative actions to be more effective and have a greater impact, IACS proposed to establish a series of work sessions led by experts in service design to gather information on the indicators that allow for the evaluation of the potential impact of the transfer to other environments. This objective is aligned with service design methodology (SD) and user-centered design (UCD) that are beginning to be present in the strategic or decision-making processes of many citizen services. The work sessions are structured according to a methodology based on co-creation, debate, and evaluation. A scaling tool is initially designed for the best innovative actions presented at the workshops, gathering information and making a selection through self-evaluation by their promoting teams. Two work sessions are held, presenting the summary sheets and generating a debate to evaluate each innovative action. The overall methodology aims to assess the replicability, independence, and transferability of the best innovative actions.