IDET 5310 Design Story

Lucy is a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Technologist who has worked in her current position for the past five years. Daily, she encounters numerous patients who have forgotten some of their medical history details, or who may not be capable of relaying that information due to cognitive or physical limitations.

Her job duties require her to collect patient history regarding surgeries, implants, injuries, and pre-existing conditions which may limit or hinder the patient from undergoing an MRI examination. She must also be able to identify any allergies to medications which the patient may have, especially when the examination requested involves injection of contrast material.

Today is just like any other workday for Lucy, until a patient arrives who cannot speak English well, and who has clearly had multiple spine surgeries as evident by the visible scars. Lucy attempts to contact the referring physician's office to inquire about the patient's history, but the office is closed for the day and will not reopen until 9AM the next morning. The only family member with the patient is a young grandchild who is not capable of answering the extensive medical questionnaire. After attempting to gather information for over an hour, Lucy is resigned to sending the patient home with the hopes of getting more information from his referring physician in the morning.

She can't help but wonder: Shouldn't there be a way for this information to be more accessible? She begins to consider the possibilities of a Collaborative Screening Initiative shared by healthcare providers and allowing for certain screening and patient information forms to be accessible to all providers and patients.

The wheels begin to turn! Collaborative Screening Initiative