Helping patients see the present

I couldn’t agree more with your assessments of evolutionary vs. revolutionary change, and how a better future must be imagined before technical solutions are applied.

I’m curious how you feel about the conflict between the present and future, in terms of vested interests. I’ve been wrestling with the problem of flawed medical practices, trying to better understand the culture that sustains the status quo. The problem has been corroborated by some of the most esteemed researchers in medicine, yet it survives in what they describe as a culture of secrecy and darkness.

So I certainly agree that cultural change is the foundational change. But how is that culture affected when the status quo is in a comfortable equilibrium with our perceptions? While most patients believe healthcare is broken, they don’t believe the problems extend to physicians, particularly their own. Similarly, while physicians are undoubtedly aware of the rampant rates of medical reversals reflected in clinical guidelines, they wouldn’t count their own practices among the ailing.

To what degree does design thinking tackle these problems of entrenchment? The solution is in reach: “to make health an integral part of our daily lives.” But I don’t think patients will recognize the future until they see the present for what it really is.

Thanks, Kim, for a wonderful article.