Dubai, UAE– As the expectations of our modern patient (both young and old) continue to change, the market is being forced to make adaptations. Between the return of the house-call and telemedicine visits alone, we are looking at the future of an entirely new type of medical experience. And as members of the innovation team, we often find ourselves asking how these changing expectations affect our work. This question is exactly what Specular Projects, the creators of Fitzania tackled with their latest prototype at the UAE’s recent Museum of the Future installation. The prototype that they created for the museum is similar to a full body-tracking Kinect game that is surrounded by a projection-mapped room for a truly immersive experience. An experience that surprises, and offers new solutions for making healthcare something engaging, not intimidating.

Their original nugget of an idea was to create a user experience for children that wasn’t scary or overwhelming for kids entering a hospital or exam room.

The angle we were going for was, most kids don’t get enough exercise. The user experience of going to the doctor is terrible and scary to most kid,” explains Dr. Noah Raford, Advisor to the UAE’s Strategic Projects Department.

But once it was created, the project had already morphed itself into far beyond a friendly exercise game for children. They found that (in theory) this system could track biometrics throughout the challenge and upload those metrics to private EHR systems. These tracked challenges could have the potential to serve as an automated doctor’s office checkup.


 

From services being offered by pharmacies, to telemedicine, this trend is increasingly shifting the focus away from the traditional office visit. As consumers continue to embrace telemedicine and self-tracking devices, I speculate we will be seeing a lot more of this immersive integration in the exam room sooner rather than later.

About the Author:

As Managing Director of Innovation and Insights for Syneos Health Communications, Leigh is responsible for building and scaling a global team of healthcare experts who together help life science leaders better understand the complex lives, influences and expectations of their customers. Specifically, they uncover actionable insights that fuel empathy and creativity; lead co-creation events that let marketers learn from peers, trends, and new possibilities; and help clients identify the most valuable and useful new customer experiences to create.

Leigh has worked with Fortune 1000 companies to craft their digital, mobile, social and CRM strategies for nearly 20 years.She’s worked for category-leading agencies in retail, public affairs, B2B technology, and higher education. Prior to moving to Syneos Health Communications, she held several leadership roles at our largest agency, GSW.  There, she founded an innovation practice fueled by the zeitgeist and spearheaded digital and innovation thinking across the business.

Leigh has taken a special interest in complex healthcare products that can change lives in meaningful ways. She was recently a strategic lead on the 3rd largest launch in pharmaceutical history: Tecfidera. Before that she had keys roles with Eli Lilly Oncology, Abbott Nutrition, Amgen Cardiovascular, and Eli Lilly Diabetes.

A critical part of Leigh’s work is trends and new ideas. Every year, she convenes a group of trend watchers from across our global network to identify the shifts most critical to healthcare marketers. This year, she led over 250 experts to experts to focus on the most important changes in the commercial, consumer, marketing, digital and healthcare landscapes. (See reports at trends.health)

Leigh is a sought-after writer and speaker. Recognized as one of the most inspiring people in the pharmaceutical industry by PharmaVoice and Top 10 Innovation Catalysts of 2017 by MM&M, Leigh also was recognized  as a Rising Star by the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) for her overt passion, industry thought leadership and significant contributions in new business, strategy and mentoring.