Patient Experience Education: Transforming Health and Life Sciences Sales at Microsoft
Design Research, Business Design, Service Design, Project Management
Microsoft’s Health and Life Sciences (HLS) organization wanted every sales member adept at having industry-leading patient experience conversations with customers.
Client: Microsoft, Health and Life Sciences
Goal: Create a scalable healthcare industry education program every HLS member could successfully complete and implement with their customers.
Solution: The Bachelors in Microsoft Health (BMH) program: a scalable 12-week healthcare industry education program centered in the patient experience and targeted to HLS members with under 5 years of industry experience. The program runs twice per fiscal year to accommodate all HLS members at scale with flexibility. The BMH program would be complementary to the existing Masters in Microsoft Health Program, which targets senior HLS members. Both programs would create the Industry Academy initiative in HLS.
Role: Design Strategist, Design Researcher, Project Manager
Result: Approval by all by all stakeholders to execute program, including HLS President sponsorship. Full class enrollment for Fall and Spring sprints. Positive qualitative and quantitative impact in HLS members performance and customer outcomes.
Links:
My Reflections
Employees are the immediate customers.
Leadership initially took interest in this project because of their desire to invest in the customer, but by the time the program launched interest shifted to the value in investing in the employees. The BMH program accomplished its goal: students were able to have industry-leading conversations with their customers. However, the BMH program found success in increasing morale during a period in which the organization was restructuring and growth opportunities felt limited. This was feedback provided by the students. Managers supported this observation by the way BMH students brought their newfound knowledge to their teams and shared their new strategies in engaging with customers. This program showed the power of asset-based community development. It also showed that employees and customers experiences run parallel and having a human-centered design in this context is paramount.