Patient Story
A photo-storytelling tool integrated into Epic that helps clinicians see beyond the chart—bridging gaps in pediatric care through patient stories that humanize medical decisions.
Healthcare • EHR Integration • Web App
MY ROLE
Led end-to-end design of the photo-narrative tool integrated into Epic.
Collaborated with Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Epic team and clinicians to integrate the feature into the system.
Created core user flows for the photo-narrative tool in Epic and designing the web-based UI.
The Team
Seattle Children's Hospital Team
• 1 Physician/Researcher @ Pediatric Palliative Care
• 1 Project Manager @ Seattle Children's Research Institute
• Epic Dev Team
University of Washington Team
• 3 UX Designers
• 1 UX Researcher
Background
Empathy is critical in caring for children with severe neurological impairments (SNI).
Clinicians often lack access to patients’ personal context and stories, which can help humanize care. Currently, the photo-narrative tool exists only as a physical PDF document (pictured right), started from Dr. Jori Bogetz and team’s research at the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics & Palliative Care. Our goal was to integrate this tool digitally within Epic, the electronic health record (EHR) system.
The Problem
Clinicians lack access to patients' personal context and stories that could humanize care.
Patient care is often mediated through problem lists, diagnoses, and charts in Epic(Electronic health record). While clinically essential, this data-first view can unintentionally obscure the human behind the health record. We set out to reimagine Epic as a place where empathy lives alongside efficiency—by integrating a photo-narrative tool that surfaces patients’ lived experiences, joys, and identities.
Solution
Patient Story — Humanizing Clinical Care in Epic
The Patient Story is a dynamic digital format of the original photo-narrative tool designed with time-limited clinician workflows in mind while maintaining focus on patient care.
Research Insights
User Perspectives from Families and Clinicians
We chose to include family members in the research to better understand their role in the healthcare experience. Family members offered a critical perspective on patient care, often identifying gaps in communication, coordination, and support that may not be visible to healthcare providers. Additional information sessions and group discussions with primary users were conducted through meetings with the palliative care team, IT team, and Family Advisory Board.
On-site Observations of Clinical and Administrative Staff
I shadowed a neurologist for a morning in outpatient care and an afternoon in inpatient care, gaining insight into a clinician’s typical day-to-day responsibilities.
To understand administrative workflows, patient interactions, and how onboarding is guided, our team also observed administrative staff on two separate occasions. These sessions provided a clearer view of how staff throughout the hospital contribute to the patient experience.
Design Questions
How might we…
Make the patient care experience more human-focused?
Ensure the photo-narrative tool is inclusive of patients’ personal experiences and identity?
Improve empathy from the clinical team in the patient care experience with the integration of an empathy tool?
Create something that medical providers are as interested in using as the patients/families?
Ideation Refinement
Crazy 8's Brainstorming
Utilizing our SCH staff, family, and technical insights,We kicked off our ideation phase with a Crazy 8 exercise to rapidly generate a wide range of ideas. We did not consider design constraints at first, and based on the design constraints, we decided which idea to move forward.
Design Phase
Early Exploration focused on potential key user workflow.
I observed healthcare providers on-site to understand how they use Epic. Their workflows varied by role — from admin staff to clinicians — which guided us to design a solution that integrates seamlessly into their existing routines.
I iterated on our mockups based on feedback from key stakeholders, including SCH’s broader Palliative Care Team and IT Team.
Usability Testing
Validating Design Decisions with Clinical Users
Usability testing was done with 5 participants from Seattle Children’s Hospital medical providers, including 1 nurse practitioner and 5 attending physicians with differing levels of comfort interacting with and navigating through Epic. The testing sessions were conducted online, using the Figma prototype. I led two sessions and synthesized the insights to make further design improvements.
The Impact
Bringing Humanity Into Clinical Care
The Photo-Narrative Tool brings the human side of patients into clinical care by surfacing their personal stories, relationships, and joys alongside medical data. Clinicians reported feeling more connected to patients beyond their diagnoses, fostering empathy in care interactions and supporting more personalized treatment decisions. The tool is also on track to be implemented at the hospital within the coming year.
Reflection
Lesson Learned & What's Next
The Photo-Narrative Tool brings the human side of patients into clinical care by surfacing their personal stories, relationships, and joys alongside medical data. Clinicians reported feeling more connected to patients beyond their diagnoses, fostering empathy in care interactions and supporting more personalized treatment decisions. The tool is also on track to be implemented at the hospital within the coming year.
