Philips – Designing the Future of Digital Integrated Chronic Care
Service Design, Qualitative Research, Strategic Design
As chronic diseases continue to rise globally, healthcare systems are under growing pressure to provide integrated, continuous, and personalized care. At Philips, internal teams were exploring how data and digital solutions could improve outcomes for patients with chronic cardiac conditions. But the path forward was unclear.
There was a need to better understand:
What role data could and should play in these complex care journeys;
What systemic barriers stood in the way of innovation;
And how Philips might evolve its offering and positioning within this care ecosystem.
The challenge wasn’t just designing new digital solutions—it was strategically framing where and how to create value for patients, caregivers, providers, and the organization itself.
Challenge
Approach
Design Research:
From Macro Trends to Micro Care Network Interactions
The project was structured in two phases: exploratory research and strategic design—each with iterative stakeholder engagement to ground insights and build shared understanding.
Framing the Inquiry
Co-defined research questions with Philips’ internal innovation team.
Aligned focus on the value of data in chronic care through stakeholder interviews and framing workshops.
Macro-System Research
Conducted expert interviews and desk research on industry, policy, and technology trends shaping chronic care innovation.
Identified and prioritized six strategic search areas with project sponsors.
Granular Qualitative Research
Selected a focus area: caregiver–patient network interaction in cardiac chronic care.
Conducted interviews with both patients and caregivers to surface real-world frictions and workarounds.
Analyzed insights to identify three systemic design challenges:
Conflicting definitions of value across stakeholders;
Resistance to organizational and behavioral change;
Communication gaps in care coordination.
Design Phase:
Modeling the Future Product-Service System
Iterative System Modeling
Used value network mapping and actor modeling to visualize current and future care interactions.
Developed conceptual models of a data-enabled product–service system.
Expert & Stakeholder Validation
Engaged experts and stakeholders across design, clinical, and business domains in feedback loops.
Refined models of value exchange, service blueprints, and supporting organizational roles.
Strategic Recommendations
Created visual frameworks to represent:
A product–service system vision for integrated care;
A supporting organizational and business model;
A service blueprint highlighting data flows, user needs, and operational touchpoints.
Integrated care journey service: prototype: video
Results
✅ A research report synthesizing key trends and stakeholder insights around data in chronic care;
✅ Three actionable design frameworks to guide future innovation initiatives:
Product–Service System Vision
Business and organizational model
Service blueprint for data-enabled care
✅ Used internally to align cross-functional teams and frame new opportunity areas;
✅ Sparked conversations about the expanded role of design in strategic and organizational innovation within Philips.
Value and Lessons Learned
This project revealed that systemic innovation in healthcare requires more than new technology—it requires new ways of seeing and structuring relationships, incentives, and roles across the ecosystem.
By applying a strategic design lens, we helped Philips uncover how data can become a unifying asset across care journeys—not just a backend tool. Just as importantly, the models served as boundary objects that enabled meaningful discussion between disciplines—design, business, clinical—laying the groundwork for future alignment and action.
The work also demonstrated how design can contribute beyond product development, acting as a driver of organizational and business model innovation in complex systems like chronic care.