The Bridges Collaborative
I worked with the University of Toronto’s healthcare incubator the Bridges Collaborative to develop a digital learning tool that accelerated the learning cycle for healthcare innovation programs. The collaborative learning dashboard enabled efficient sharing of insights, identified network-wide trends, and closed the measurement and management gap among members of the BRIDGES Collaborative.
The BRIDGES Collaborative, an incubator launched by the Family Medicine Research department of the Women’s College Hospital housed at the University of Toronto, supports healthcare innovation programs funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ontario Medical Association. These programs aim to improve outcomes for medically complex patients (MCPs), addressing an issue costing Ontario's healthcare system $3-4 billion annually. Faced with the challenge of efficiently sharing program insights and managing extensive data, the BRIDGES team sought a solution to streamline their processes and enhance their learning cycle.
The BRIDGES Collaborative was reliant on traditional, labor-intensive methods for collecting and analyzing data on healthcare innovation programs. This process involved producing a 200-page report every six months through the efforts of a full-time researcher and the coordination of over 70 individuals. This approach was not only costly but also slow, hindering the team's ability to rapidly share insights, identify trends, and foster collaboration within the network.
The Collaborative Learning Dashboard in action.
I led a team of designers, developers, data scientists, and strategists to create a digital learning product to address these challenges. The solution comprised:
Customized Survey Tool: An 11-question survey designed to efficiently gather critical data from 35 program managers across the network.
Visual Insights Dashboard: A user-friendly interface providing real-time visualizations of survey data, enabling quick identification of trends and insights.
Monthly Reporting: Automated, dynamic reports generated from survey data, facilitating ongoing measurement and analysis over time.
This innovative product replaced the cumbersome reporting process with a streamlined, digital approach, significantly reducing the time and resources required to collect, analyze, and share program insights.
The implementation of Thicket Labs' digital learning product yielded remarkable results for the BRIDGES Collaborative:
Time and Cost Savings: The new solution reduced the coordination, conversation, and analysis workload by 85 percent, representing substantial savings over the previous method.
Enhanced Collaboration: The platform enabled program managers to instantly identify potential partners within the network, fostering collaboration and innovation.
Increased Insight and Agility: Real-time data visualization and monthly reporting allowed the BRIDGES team to quickly adapt to emerging trends and insights, closing the measurement and management gap.
Log In screen on mobile
Set up survey on mobile
A searchable map of the member network
A patient journey-based searchable map allowing members to quickly discover and connect to other members within the network
“Tells me who I should be talking to in the network.”
Results
The development of a digital learning product for the BRIDGES Collaborative exemplified the transformative potential of digital tools in healthcare innovation. By replacing an outdated and resource-intensive process with a streamlined, efficient, and collaborative digital solution, we not only facilitated significant cost and time savings but also enhanced the overall insight and agility of the BRIDGES programs.
This work highlights the critical role of innovative digital solutions in accelerating the learning cycle and improving management practices within healthcare innovation networks.
This project was completed by Thicket Labs, a data-driven design lab and technology company founded and run by me prior to founding Tiny Little Cosmos.
