San Francisco Department of Public Health
Innovations in care coordination and data infrastructure for vulnerable populations
Objective
Improve health outcomes for adults experiencing homelessness in San Francisco through better coordination, collaboration, and data sharing across City programs and services.
Design Tools
Qualitative research, data analysis, human-centered design workshop facilitation, journey mapping, service blueprinting, and communication design
Journey Map depicting person experiencing chronic homelessness in San Francisco
As Chief Service Designer for the Whole Person Care program, I led a team of designers, researchers, and analysts to understand and overcome barriers preventing people experiencing homelessness from accessing care in San Francisco.
The multi-year project identified opportunities for improvement, designed and piloted new approaches, and put in place tools and technology to support information sharing across programs.
To improve access to services the program led the design and implementation of citywide care coordination software, planned for SF’s transition to CalAIM, a state-wide Medi-Cal program, and helped design services for “Mental Health SF”, an overhaul of San Francisco’s mental health system for residents lacking insurance or experiencing homelessness.
Identify needs and opportunities
Leverage data to better understand the target population
Map the current state to identify capacity gaps
Co-create solutions and facilitate discussions
Prioritize opportunities and build alignment
Make tangible future vision stories
Visualize potential IT solutions and highlight the value of integrating health, housing, and benefits data
Gather user needs and IT requirements from human-centered design activities and design research
Prototype and test the usefulness of potential solutions before implementing
Highlight the need for change management, governance structures, and a roadmap forward