Optimising co-design processes in telemedicine innovation-developing a telemedical solution for emergency medical services

Background: Stakeholder engagement plays a vital role in driving advancements in product development. This imperative now extends to the healthcare domain, driven by the scarcity of healthcare professionals and the pressing demand for effective solutions. Through the application of design thinking and co-design methodologies, this study endeavours to promote comprehensive stakeholder involvement, creating streamlined processes and adaptable templates geared towards fostering innovative solutions for tele-emergency medicine.

Methods: In this study design thinking and co-design methods are developed, adapted, and tested, to create effective tools and demonstrate their application. This is part of a process involving stakeholders and lead users to develop a telemedicine solution for emergency medical services. This research is descriptive in kind, offering a transparent and holistic portrayal of the co-design process. The rural region of Burgenland in Austria was chosen for this study, with the challenges of its weak infrastructure offering valuable insights. The tools were tested in co-design workshops, with the participants continuously observed by the research team.

Results: Seventeen healthcare professionals, emergency medical technicians and academics participated in a co-design process to develop a telemedicine solution for emergency medical services. The results section presents practical co-creative healthcare innovation tools and templates that have been shown to facilitate the co-design process.

Conclusions: The study developed and applied co-design elements for the creation of a prototype concept for telemedicine in emergency medicine and offers valuable insights for similar projects involving diverse stakeholders. It shows that structured co-design activities help all stakeholders to jointly create solutions that meet the overall needs.