Novartis: Improving access to healthcare in underserved communities

How can we help more people access our treatments and medicines?

Novartis is a global pharmaceutical company that is reimagining medicine.

Patients are at the centre of everything Novartis does. They work with the patient community around the world to discover new ways to improve and extend people’s lives. Significant investment in research and development underpins their commitment to using science-based innovation to address some of society’s most challenging healthcare issues. They understand that it’s only by working together that they can improve outcomes for patients and change the practice of medicine.

In May 2020, we were delighted to be asked by Novartis to run a Treehouse Innovation Solution Sprint, bringing together multiple teams from around the world to tackle a real and important business challenge while building practical, lasting innovation skills along the way.

Working on a live challenge, and supported throughout by Treehouse coaches, participants learned and applied the principles of human-centred design as they explored how Novartis could bring innovative treatments and medicines to patients currently unable to access them.

The challenge

Although Novartis is always increasing the availability of medicines and treatments across the globe, they recognise that some communities and some medical conditions are simply not covered by their local healthcare provision.

So a team of patient access specialists across the Middle East, North Africa, and Central and South America partnered with us to use design thinking to explore:

How might we help patients who are currently unable to access treatment through traditional channels, or not covered by those traditional channels, to access the treatment they need?

What we did

We brought teams from six countries together for a fast-paced, coached Solution Sprint designed to combine learning with doing.

Rather than learning innovation tools in the abstract, participants immediately applied them to the real patient-access challenge. Treehouse coaches guided the teams through the process, helping them build confidence and capability in customer research, insight generation, ideation, experimentation and prototyping.

Teams kicked off their projects by planning the first stage: Field Research. They identified which stakeholder groups and extreme users they would need to speak to. They also discussed their research objectives and planned how they would get beyond the obvious to really understand the barriers to treatment.

As our project was launching in the middle of a pandemic, our teams needed to find digital ways to connect with research subjects. We found that even with limitations on face-to-face meetings and travel, teams were able to use video conferencing and structured questions to uncover rich insights from more than 30 interviewees.

Working closely with their Treehouse coaches, the teams shared and synthesised their findings, spotting themes and patterns within their research that revealed promising opportunities for new solutions.

The outcome

Taking time to find analogous inspiration really helped to spark ideas for this project. The Novartis teams researched more than 60 case studies where organisations had overcome barriers to communities accessing a particular service, whether that be water, education or food. These examples gave teams fresh perspectives and inspiration before moving into ideation.

This research, combined with the teams’ other findings, inspired more than 80 ideas and 13 prototypes. They sought feedback from within and outside the organisation, allowing them to test assumptions, learn quickly and iterate their ideas before presenting them to senior sponsors within Novartis.

The final 13 prototyped concepts ranged from simple but high-impact ideas that could be implemented within the next 12 months, to more complex, far-reaching ideas requiring greater investment but with the potential to be life-changing for patients if successful.

Just as importantly, the Sprint gave participants first-hand experience of using human-centred innovation methods on a meaningful challenge, building skills and behaviours they could continue to apply to other problems long after the programme itself had finished.

“This project showed that if you’re going to come up with truly innovative and, in this case, life changing ideas, you’ve got to be open to findings that challenge your assumptions. For anyone living in a country where healthcare is fully funded, where you get statutory sick pay or perhaps urban dwellers who have the hospital on their doorstep, it’s really easy to believe that this is everyone’s experience.

The stories that opened my eyes the most were hearing from patients suffering with chronic illness, who were eligible to receive healthcare but who couldn’t take paid time off work to obtain the treatment. They then faced the difficult choice between earning money to feed their families or taking unpaid leave to attend much needed medical treatment. Of course, they chose to feed their families, but at huge personal risk.”

El Tong
Treehouse Innovation

“We were so impressed by the breadth of analogous case studies the team uncovered. Some of these had clearly sparked their thinking and allowed them to apply known solutions from other industries to the issue of patient access, with some truly inspired and cutting edge results.”

Duncan Brannan
Treehouse Innovation