Speaking of innovation may sound easy, but the actual implementation is quite challenging. Nonetheless, the Innovation Design Center of Asan Medical Center has been steadfastly engaged in this demanding task of fostering innovation for the past ten years. The Innovation Design Center embarked on its innovative journey by venturing into the uncharted territory of patient experience design. Over the course of a decade, it has accumulated invaluable experiences, which were consolidated and showcased in the Innovation Challenge exhibition titled "Expanding Experience: Innovation on the Move, Innovation in Action." This exhibition, held on December 8th of last year, garnered significant attention not only from internal staff but also from other hospitals and medical professionals.

Professor Jeong Hyun Lee, the Director of the Innovation Design Center, stated, "The Innovation Challenge is an annual in-house event that we organize to share our projects for the year with our staff and foster a culture of innovation. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event had to be suspended and focused primarily on exhibitions. In celebration of our 10th anniversary, we made the decision to comprehensively showcase our activities this time. The response has been remarkable, with representatives from 37 institutions attending the exhibition. Many of them provided positive feedback, expressing their desire for more frequent events and requesting the sharing of failure cases as well." She further added, "Our objective was to offer a fresh perspective for patients at Asan Medical Center and other hospitals, and we take great pride in the overwhelmingly positive response we received."

▲ [left] The newly designed waiting room at the East Building OR, as part of the 'Preoperative Anxiety Reduction Project’
▲ [right] The Innovation Design Center celebrated its 10th anniversary by organizing the 'Expanding Experience: Innovation on the Move, Innovation in Action’ exhibition on December 8, 2022.

To create a human-centered hospital

Asan Medical Center established the Innovation Design Center in 2013 with the aim of creating a human-centered hospital, the first of its kind in South Korea. The center's primary objective was to enhance the overall hospital service experience by deeply understanding the perspectives of patients and their caregivers through empathy. Additionally, it has persistently pursued innovative initiatives in designing patient experiences and improving systems, thereby fostering a sense of pride among the employees of Asan Medical Center. Among the multitude of service design projects undertaken by the Innovation Design Center over the past decade, one noteworthy example is the ‘Preoperative Anxiety Reduction Project.’ This project effectively utilized service design principles to alleviate the anxiety experienced by patients and their caregivers who were preparing for surgeries.

Subsequently, in 2022, the Idea Space platform was launched, integrating the idea proposal system, Idea AMC, and Idea Factory. This platform provided employees with the opportunity to submit their own ideas for consideration. Among these, the Idea Factory gained significant attention and participation from employees, as it allowed for the transformation of promising ideas, such as medical devices or assistive devices, into tangible prototypes. Remarkably, the Idea Factory successfully produces 60 prototypes annually. One notable example is the 'height measuring device for in-bed patients,' which emerged as the top proposal. As a result, the corresponding patent was filed and registered, leading to the transfer of the technology to a specialized healthcare company. This breakthrough has paved the way for future commercialization efforts. "The exhibited prototypes will undergo further sophistication before reaching the commercial stage. To ensure no issues arose, we prohibited photography during the exhibition. Individuals from other hospitals expressed their disappointment. One individual even asked, 'Is it okay to draw?' and proceeded to take handwritten notes and create sketches. It was a moment that made me realize the widespread acknowledgment of the significance of service design."

Reimagining patient experience through ‘design’

The innovations fostered at the Innovation Design Center do not solely revolve around offering methodologies. Instead, they involve a dynamic process of gathering diverse firsthand experiences obtained from medical practice to cultivate enhanced patient experiences. Consequently, these innovations may undergo temporary trials and errors but never cease to evolve. It is recognized that even failures contribute to valuable experiences. However, the concept of 'designing patient experience' did not initially resonate with everyone.

Manager Dae Ho Park explained, "I anticipated that the idea would gain widespread acceptance within 1-2 years, but it proved to be more challenging than I had imagined." He further explained, "We had to repeatedly explain and share our vision of patient experience design. Additionally, our field staff had to maintain continuous communication with us, relaying various occurrences in the medical field. As a result, we consistently included field staff in our workshops when working on projects. Witnessing their ideas come to life firsthand greatly motivated them."

Paving the path for a decade of innovation

The Innovation Design Center is preparing to make an even more innovative journey as a new decade begins. It intends to further refine the prototypes generated through the Idea Factory and collaborate with specialized companies to bring these prototypes to commercialization. Simultaneously, the center will continue to drive ongoing projects centered on customer experience and develop solutions for establishing smart hospitals, all with the objective of enhancing the overall customer experience.

Professor Soo Sung Park, the Director for Planning and Coordination, emphasized the importance of personal involvement and engagement of the organization's members for the successful innovation and transformation of Asan Medical Center (AMC). He stated, "Ultimately, AMC's innovation and transformation can only be realized when the members of the organization personally experience and actively participate in them." He further expressed, "I encourage people to visit the Innovation Design Center and share any concerns they may have regarding the medical field. These concerns are precisely what we need to improve the patient experience. While we may not be able to address all of them, it is our responsibility to collectively brainstorm and strive for progress. We will continue to forge ahead, aiming to create a human-centered hospital where members of the organization experience meaningful moments, and patients feel fully understood and cared for by the hospital."