Monitoring Hypertension Should Be Simple

As a consultant with `Obvious`, I was a Design Manager at Simple from 2019 to 2021, working alongside `Daniel Burka`. I led a team of designers and researchers, managing project deliverables, conducted field trips, and trained healthcare workers. In 2020, the Simple App won the `IxD Award for "Best in Show."` I owned several key projects from ideation to validation and testing. Here are some projects that I worked on.

Patient says…

What is High BP?

The hospital is very far…

I lost my health card.

I forgot my medicines.

What is sugar?

I don't have a phone no…

Nurse feels…

Don't increase my work.

Long time to find patient record

Sort patients by villages

No time to counsel.

Why my personal phone?

An open source app to manage hypertension

Patient Record

Displaying patient details on a 4-inch device was a challenging task. We had to make sure all important information was visible while keeping it clear for medical staff. They needed to easily see the patient’s critical conditions, current treatment, and next visit.

Search and Registration

Healthcare staff often don’t know if a patient is already registered with Simple. If the patient loses their ID card, it becomes even harder to find their records during follow-up visits. To solve this, we created a single starting point for nurses in both cases. This ensures they double-check if the patient is already registered by another healthcare worker or at a nearby facility. Avoiding duplicate entries is crucial for accurate diagnosis and follow-up care.

Overdue Patients

When patients miss their follow-up appointments, the app shows them separately so healthcare staff can remind them to schedule their next visit.
This not only ensures an effective care system, but shows how well the program is working.

Decentralizing Public Healthcare

Decentralizing public healthcare is important for two main reasons: first, to prevent staff at large hospitals from being overloaded with too many follow-up patients, and second, to allow patients to visit smaller, nearby health centers for regular check-ups and medication. To make this easier, we set up a system where staff can register patients at any facility and assign them to a location that’s more convenient for their next follow-up visit.

Telemedicine

During Covid-19, we integrated telemedicine into Simple to address staff shortages in hospitals. If a patient was critically ill and needed medication adjustments, a staff nurse could initiate video calls with medical officers enabling doctors to issue e-prescriptions remotely.

How to conduct a tele-consult visit for a patient with hypertension using Simple. This video is for healthcare workers in the field and medical officers treating patients virtually.