Reflection - Learning Launch and Journey Mapping 

 Challenge 

 During 2014 , I took a position as the Public Affairs Coordinator for the Market Access Department   of an international pharmaceutical company in South America , mainly dedicated to the diagnosis   and treatment of oncological diseases . I was primarily responsible for the design and   implementation of the policy and communications strategy to foster the company ’ relations with   the political - institutional environment . Moreover , I was responsible for conducting specialized   advice on public policy ; cultivating relations with key actors from Government and the private   sector , academia , and civil society ; deploying the internal and external communication strategies ,   as well as dealing with the media in the promotion of key themes and messages from the company .    In this position , I could develop and conduct the company 's Healthcare Policy Impact Plan for   Uruguay , Paraguay , and Bolivia , as well as the ' External Communication and Public Affairs Plan ' , to   address the main political challenges of the organization in these three different socio - political   situations . 

 A big challenge me and my team identified by that time was how a severe constraint for many   patients currently in treatment for the diseases our company research and develop medicines for   was the extremely complex and tiresome internal processes and procedures patients needed to   follow within hospitals in Uruguay to obtain treatment after being diagnosed with any type of   cancer . From our constant dialogue with patients ’ representative organizations , we got the   perception that a worrisome proportion of people who needed the medicines we develop were not   receiving the appropriate treatment in the right timeline , even though they were entitle to it by the   Law and the Uruguayan health policy in place . 

 My vision was that , as a pharmaceutical company , we had not only the responsibility of creating the   best medicine possible , but also of ensuring that every patient who needed it had the opportunity   of accessing the right treatment at the right time . Bearing this challenge in mind , we decided to start   and try a new ‘ Patients ’ Journey Mapping model ’ in one important public hospital in Uruguay , to   detect and remover barriers for patients in the timeline between receiving a diagnosis and   effectively start the treatment of their oncological diseases . 

 Selection 

 To cope with this challenge , we decided to set up a ‘ Learning Launch ’ , although we did not call it   that way by that time . No matter we did not use that precise design thinking language , my   organization was in the middle of an important transformation to become Agile , and many Agility   Methodology tools were being tested and implemented , so that my team ’s surrounding   organizational environment was one of openness and enthusiasm towards experimentation and   trial to attaint more treatment access to more potential patients faster . 

 The whole purpose of this initiative was to map the main barriers oncological patients face to access   to the right treatment as well as to test whether an improvement in hospital internal processes in 

 terms of simplicity and speed in what we called ‘ The Patients ’ Journey ’ in one of the major   Uruguayan hospitals specialized in oncology demonstrate an effective reduction in patients ’ waiting   time to receive treatment after the right diagnosis . We reasonably assumed this would impact in   patients ’ chances of succeeding in their personal battle against the disease . Moreover , if this specific   pilot showed a positive impact , we were willing the advocate for this tool and to generate the   needed alliances with the public sector authorities , which allowed to escalate this initiative to   several public hospitals in the country , with the goal of fixing their own ‘ patients ’ journeys ’ as well ,   driving a process of iteration and continuous improvement . 

 Application 

 Firstly , we collected the necessarily quantitative and qualitative data ( performing a sort of ‘ What   is ? ’ phase ) via secondary statistics sources about cancer mortality in the country , as well as via   several in - depth interviews with many prominent oncologists , oncological patients , and their   representative organizations to better sustain our hypothesis . This stated that time delay in   receiving treatment after being diagnosed with cancer was a serious problem that affected patients ’   opportunities of success in dealing with the disease . Moreover , we had to demonstrate that a   relevant part of this delay was caused by red - tape and bureaucracy in the public health system   procedures that hospitals were obliged to implement . 

 After several weeks of interviews , we considered this hypothesis was reasonably sustained by the   experiences and expertise transmitted by the experts involved . Thus , we asked for the necessary   permissions to go conduct our ‘ experiment ’ within the selected hospital , which could be assimilated   with our ‘ marketplace ’ to solve our ‘ costumers ’ pain ’ . 

 The most important oncological patients ’ organization in Uruguay was a key ally in this endeavor .   Through their members ’ record and with the due consent of the people involved , we got access to   those patients recently diagnosed with some oncological disease , who got closer to the referred   organization to obtain support and orientation in the started process of receiving treatment . 

 Having selected a list of patients with a sufficient degree of demographic diversity , we started to   map their respective journeys within the public institution . We help them to track and record every   step in the process of starting the treatment indicated by their doctors , through a personal digital   record book we provide them , in which they had to specify with details dates , waiting times ,   requirements , expenses , and everything the hospital asked them in the timeline between diagnosis   and treatment beginning . 

 After three months of the experiment implementation , we completed 20 detailed and specific   oncological ‘ patients ’ journeys ’’ and we were able to draw a series of conclusions about where the   main ‘ pain points ’ and ‘ bottlenecks ’ in the hospital procedures and requirements were . This almost   ethnographic research led us to rapidly come up with a simple set of recommendations to cut red- tape and overbearing bureaucracy , gaining a valuable time for patients . Overall , the design of an   improved ‘ Patient Journey ’ model permitted to save patients ’ around two months on average   compared with the typical journey we reconstructed from the 20 subjects involved ’ record books . 

 These recommendations were promptly presented and discussed with the Ministry of Health in   Uruguay . Several months later a robust program to alleviate bureaucratic procedures and 

 requirements imposed to oncological patients in Uruguayan public hospitals was launched by the   public authority . 

 Insight & Approach 

 This Learning Launch experience allowed me to gain a lot of knowledge about the different variables   that might affect the oncological patients ’ treatment experience . It was demonstrated that reasons   why people struggle with these terrible diseases are not only medical but also institutional , and we   had to carefully listen to our ‘ customers ’ to detect any organizational barrier preventing them to   access to the right treatment and make our best effort to remove them . 

 In terms of design thinking practices , I learned that tons of data and analytics are awesome but in- depth qualitative , rigorous data is as valuable . The whole success of this experiment was based on   an exercise of empathy towards a small number of real people and their daily journey within a   certain organization under specific circumstances . This kind of profound exploration of human   experience fed us with concrete and rich information to really understand how things were going   for oncological patients and what we could do to help them in their journey . By thoroughly focusing   on the experience of less that two dozen of people we were able to depict a very realistic and   appropriate picture of what was going on with oncological patients and public hospitals , and to   identify the main ‘ pain points ’ they were dealing with . 

 Something I think would be a great advance in the future , once the changes implemented by the   Ministry of Health reach most Uruguayan public hospitals , is to complement The Patient Journey   analysis with a Mind Mapping exercise , to facilitate the comprehension of patterns in different   patients ’ potential diverse experiences . It is reasonable to state the hypothesis that people with   different backgrounds and specific conditions will also exhibit systematic variation in their specific   struggles within the hospitals as organizations , which could be better deciphered by a better   comprehension of their knowledges , skills , and attitudes , even permitting the creation of patients ’   ‘ ideal types ’ , and their own different challenges . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Reflection - Learning Launch and Journey Mapping 

 Challenge 

 During 2014 , I took a position as the Public Affairs Coordinator for the Market Access Department   of an international pharmaceutical company in South America , mainly dedicated to the diagnosis   and treatment of oncological diseases . I was primarily responsible for the design and   implementation of the policy and communications strategy to foster the company ’ relations with   the political - institutional environment . Moreover , I was responsible for conducting specialized   advice on public policy ; cultivating relations with key actors from Government and the private   sector , academia , and civil society ; deploying the internal and external communication strategies ,   as well as dealing with the media in the promotion of key themes and messages from the company .    In this position , I could develop and conduct the company 's Healthcare Policy Impact Plan for   Uruguay , Paraguay , and Bolivia , as well as the ' External Communication and Public Affairs Plan ' , to   address the main political challenges of the organization in these three different socio - political   situations . 

 A big challenge me and my team identified by that time was how a severe constraint for many   patients currently in treatment for the diseases our company research and develop medicines for   was the extremely complex and tiresome internal processes and procedures patients needed to   follow within hospitals in Uruguay to obtain treatment after being diagnosed with any type of   cancer . From our constant dialogue with patients ’ representative organizations , we got the   perception that a worrisome proportion of people who needed the medicines we develop were not   receiving the appropriate treatment in the right timeline , even though they were entitle to it by the   Law and the Uruguayan health policy in place . 

 My vision was that , as a pharmaceutical company , we had not only the responsibility of creating the   best medicine possible , but also of ensuring that every patient who needed it had the opportunity   of accessing the right treatment at the right time . Bearing this challenge in mind , we decided to start   and try a new ‘ Patients ’ Journey Mapping model ’ in one important public hospital in Uruguay , to   detect and remover barriers for patients in the timeline between receiving a diagnosis and   effectively start the treatment of their oncological diseases . 

 Selection 

 To cope with this challenge , we decided to set up a ‘ Learning Launch ’ , although we did not call it   that way by that time . No matter we did not use that precise design thinking language , my   organization was in the middle of an important transformation to become Agile , and many Agility   Methodology tools were being tested and implemented , so that my team ’s surrounding   organizational environment was one of openness and enthusiasm towards experimentation and   trial to attaint more treatment access to more potential patients faster . 

 The whole purpose of this initiative was to map the main barriers oncological patients face to access   to the right treatment as well as to test whether an improvement in hospital internal processes in 

 terms of simplicity and speed in what we called ‘ The Patients ’ Journey ’ in one of the major   Uruguayan hospitals specialized in oncology demonstrate an effective reduction in patients ’ waiting   time to receive treatment after the right diagnosis . We reasonably assumed this would impact in   patients ’ chances of succeeding in their personal battle against the disease . Moreover , if this specific   pilot showed a positive impact , we were willing the advocate for this tool and to generate the   needed alliances with the public sector authorities , which allowed to escalate this initiative to   several public hospitals in the country , with the goal of fixing their own ‘ patients ’ journeys ’ as well ,   driving a process of iteration and continuous improvement . 

 Application 

 Firstly , we collected the necessarily quantitative and qualitative data ( performing a sort of ‘ What   is ? ’ phase ) via secondary statistics sources about cancer mortality in the country , as well as via   several in - depth interviews with many prominent oncologists , oncological patients , and their   representative organizations to better sustain our hypothesis . This stated that time delay in   receiving treatment after being diagnosed with cancer was a serious problem that affected patients ’   opportunities of success in dealing with the disease . Moreover , we had to demonstrate that a   relevant part of this delay was caused by red - tape and bureaucracy in the public health system   procedures that hospitals were obliged to implement . 

 After several weeks of interviews , we considered this hypothesis was reasonably sustained by the   experiences and expertise transmitted by the experts involved . Thus , we asked for the necessary   permissions to go conduct our ‘ experiment ’ within the selected hospital , which could be assimilated   with our ‘ marketplace ’ to solve our ‘ costumers ’ pain ’ . 

 The most important oncological patients ’ organization in Uruguay was a key ally in this endeavor .   Through their members ’ record and with the due consent of the people involved , we got access to   those patients recently diagnosed with some oncological disease , who got closer to the referred   organization to obtain support and orientation in the started process of receiving treatment . 

 Having selected a list of patients with a sufficient degree of demographic diversity , we started to   map their respective journeys within the public institution . We help them to track and record every   step in the process of starting the treatment indicated by their doctors , through a personal digital   record book we provide them , in which they had to specify with details dates , waiting times ,   requirements , expenses , and everything the hospital asked them in the timeline between diagnosis   and treatment beginning . 

 After three months of the experiment implementation , we completed 20 detailed and specific   oncological ‘ patients ’ journeys ’’ and we were able to draw a series of conclusions about where the   main ‘ pain points ’ and ‘ bottlenecks ’ in the hospital procedures and requirements were . This almost   ethnographic research led us to rapidly come up with a simple set of recommendations to cut red- tape and overbearing bureaucracy , gaining a valuable time for patients . Overall , the design of an   improved ‘ Patient Journey ’ model permitted to save patients ’ around two months on average   compared with the typical journey we reconstructed from the 20 subjects involved ’ record books . 

 These recommendations were promptly presented and discussed with the Ministry of Health in   Uruguay . Several months later a robust program to alleviate bureaucratic procedures and 

 requirements imposed to oncological patients in Uruguayan public hospitals was launched by the   public authority . 

 Insight & Approach 

 This Learning Launch experience allowed me to gain a lot of knowledge about the different variables   that might affect the oncological patients ’ treatment experience . It was demonstrated that reasons   why people struggle with these terrible diseases are not only medical but also institutional , and we   had to carefully listen to our ‘ customers ’ to detect any organizational barrier preventing them to   access to the right treatment and make our best effort to remove them . 

 In terms of design thinking practices , I learned that tons of data and analytics are awesome but in- depth qualitative , rigorous data is as valuable . The whole success of this experiment was based on   an exercise of empathy towards a small number of real people and their daily journey within a   certain organization under specific circumstances . This kind of profound exploration of human   experience fed us with concrete and rich information to really understand how things were going   for oncological patients and what we could do to help them in their journey . By thoroughly focusing   on the experience of less that two dozen of people we were able to depict a very realistic and   appropriate picture of what was going on with oncological patients and public hospitals , and to   identify the main ‘ pain points ’ they were dealing with . 

 Something I think would be a great advance in the future , once the changes implemented by the   Ministry of Health reach most Uruguayan public hospitals , is to complement The Patient Journey   analysis with a Mind Mapping exercise , to facilitate the comprehension of patterns in different   patients ’ potential diverse experiences . It is reasonable to state the hypothesis that people with   different backgrounds and specific conditions will also exhibit systematic variation in their specific   struggles within the hospitals as organizations , which could be better deciphered by a better   comprehension of their knowledges , skills , and attitudes , even permitting the creation of patients ’   ‘ ideal types ’ , and their own different challenges .
### Output: 