Overview

Create the healthcare industry context template, the third of three P0 industry templates. This provides healthcare-specific vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenarios for DT coaching. Derived from 4 case studies in the DT4HVE research corpus, with additional original content for the healthcare sector's unique characteristics: patient safety, clinical workflows, regulatory compliance (HIPAA), and the clinician-patient dynamic.

Target File

.github/instructions/dt-industry-healthcare.instructions.md

Frontmatter

---
description: 'Healthcare industry context for DT coaching — vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenarios'
applyTo: ''
---

Required Content

Industry Profile

• Sector: Healthcare (hospitals, clinics, health systems, digital health)
• Key stakeholders: Clinicians (physicians, nurses, PAs), patients, family members, administrators, IT/informatics, pharmacy, lab technicians, social workers, billing/coding specialists, regulatory/compliance officers
• Decision cadence: Clinical (real-time patient care), operational (daily staffing, weekly scheduling), strategic (annual budget, multi-year system implementations)
• Regulatory environment: HIPAA, CMS conditions of participation, Joint Commission, state licensing boards, FDA (for devices), IRB (for research)

Vocabulary Mapping

Constraints and Considerations

• Patient safety: Overriding constraint; any design activity touching clinical workflows must have safety review
• HIPAA compliance: Research activities involving patient data require de-identification or IRB oversight; empathy work must not access PHI without proper authorization
• Clinical workflow interruption: Clinicians operate under time pressure; DT activities must minimize disruption to patient care
• Hierarchy dynamics: Medicine has strong hierarchical culture; stakeholder engagement must account for power dynamics between attendings, residents, nurses, and support staff
• Evidence-based culture: Healthcare professionals expect evidence; DT insights must be framed in evidence-compatible language
• Emotional weight: Healthcare problems often involve suffering and loss; empathy work requires emotional sensitivity and professional boundaries

Empathy Tools

• Patient journey mapping: Follow a patient's experience through a care episode, scheduling, arrival, registration, clinical encounter, discharge, follow-up
• Clinician shadow: Observe a clinician through a shift, decision density, interruption frequency, documentation burden
• Handoff observation: Watch clinical handoffs (shift change, unit transfer, discharge), information loss, safety risks, workaround patterns
• Wait time audit: Map all waiting that patients experience, reveals system design from the patient's perspective

Reference Scenario

• Context: Emergency department experiencing long patient wait times and clinician burnout, with patient satisfaction scores declining
• Stakeholders: ED physicians, triage nurses, registration staff, patients, family members, hospital administrators
• Discovery: Wait times are not caused by insufficient capacity; they're caused by information flow bottlenecks between triage, registration, and clinical assessment
• DT Journey: Methods 1-3 surface the information flow problem through patient journey mapping and clinician shadows; Methods 4-6 generate solutions for streamlined triage-to-treatment communication; Methods 7-9 pilot with simulation before live implementation

Token Budget

Target: ~1,500-2,000 tokens (on-demand tier)

Source Material

Attach these files as context for the task-researcher phase:

• DT4HVE healthcare references: design-thinking-for-hve-capabilities/guidance/02-design-research.md (L81 healthcare environment constraints), guidance/06-low-fidelity-prototypes.md (L97, L111, L125 healthcare testing/environment/workflow), guidance/07-high-fidelity-prototypes.md (L99 Healthcare Implementation Validation)
• Cumulative research: Design Thinking cumulative research, Part 2 (cross-industry evidence) with 4 named healthcare case studies (Monash Health, GE Healthcare, Children's Health TX, US DHHS Whiteriver)
• Industry Context Layer: Design Thinking cumulative research Part 7 for template architecture

RPI Pipeline Workflow

1. task-researcher: Gather DT4HVE healthcare case studies (4 identified in research corpus). Extract vocabulary, constraints, empathy patterns, and validate reference scenario.
2. task-planner: Plan the template, industry profile, vocabulary mapping, constraints, empathy tools, reference scenario.
3. task-implementor: Author following prompt-builder standards. Healthcare content draws from case studies and supplements with domain knowledge.
4. task-reviewer: Validate healthcare domain accuracy, patient safety sensitivity, HIPAA awareness, vocabulary mapping, prompt-builder compliance.

Starter Prompts

Research: /task-research — "Gather DT4HVE healthcare case studies (4 identified in research corpus) and extract vocabulary, constraints, empathy patterns. Attach guidance/02-design-research.md, guidance/06-low-fidelity-prototypes.md, guidance/07-high-fidelity-prototypes.md, and cumulative research Part 2 as context."

Plan: /task-plan — "Plan dt-industry-healthcare.instructions.md — industry profile, vocabulary mapping (PDSA↔iteration, care pathway↔user journey), constraints (patient safety, HIPAA, clinical workflow), empathy tools, reference scenario."

Implement: /task-implement — "Author dt-industry-healthcare.instructions.md following prompt-builder standards with empty applyTo, 1500-2000 token budget. Draw from case studies and supplement with domain knowledge."

Review: /task-review — "Validate dt-industry-healthcare.instructions.md against prompt-builder standards, healthcare domain accuracy, and patient safety sensitivity."

Prompt-Builder Compliance Checklist

Per .github/instructions/prompt-builder.instructions.md:

• description: frontmatter present and descriptive
• applyTo: '' (empty, on-demand loading)
• Writing style uses guidance over commands (no "You must/will/shall")
• Token count within budget tier
• No ALL CAPS emphasis
• Vocabulary mapping is bidirectional (DT→healthcare and healthcare→DT)

Success Criteria

• Template created at .github/instructions/dt-industry-healthcare.instructions.md
• Frontmatter has empty applyTo: (on-demand loading)
• Industry profile covers key stakeholders, decision cadence, regulatory environment
• Vocabulary mapping bridges DT and healthcare terminology (PDSA↔iteration, care pathway↔user journey)
• Constraints address patient safety, HIPAA, clinical workflow interruption, hierarchy dynamics
• Empathy tools are practical and healthcare-specific (patient journey, clinician shadow, handoff observation)
• Reference scenario demonstrates full DT journey in healthcare context
• Token count within ~1,500-2,000 target
• Passes task-reviewer validation against prompt-builder standards
• Artifact registered in collections/design-thinking.collection.yml with path and kind fields
• Artifact registered in collections/hve-core-all.collection.yml with path and kind fields
• npm run plugin:generate run after updating collection manifests