Exploring Services’ patient-centredness. Design Challenges for a Future Design Agenda

The healthcare system had important transformations, shifting from a public sphere to a wider ecosystem in which private, public and community services are intertwined. Furthermore, social, environmental and technological challenges have an impact at micro- and macro-levels, challenging health professionals, organisations, and institutions to foster innovation. New solutions and scenarios are emerging in response to the emergent healthcare and well-being challenges which include a wider range of collaborative processes aimed at making systems more citizen-centric. The discussion on person-centred does not find a univocal definition and the possible outcomes of the collaborative process are manifold. These concern the typology of artefacts such as service touchpoints, software or technological components that support the service delivery as well as the collaborative tools and practices that support the solution development. This chapter proposes a way to approach the study of the patient-centred services through a systemic lens and describes three exemplar cases developed in Italy. The cases contribute to outline how patient-centredness concerns experimental solutions, deployable on existing service layers, deriving from a multi-stakeholder agency, using digitalisation to expand relationships between individuals, organisations and territories, generating knowledge and culture in the care system beyond the solution. Based on a systemic perspective characterising patient-centred services, some reflections on future service design research issues are outlined.