Empowering Emergency Medicine: Leveraging Design Thinking to Address Challenges and Drive Solutions
By Leonardo Garcia; Zaid Altawil, MD; Jonathan Oskvarek, MD, MBA; and Nicholas Stark, MD, MBA on behalf of the SAEM Innovation Interest Group
SAEM Pulse July-August 2024
At SAEM24 in Phoenix, Arizona, the SAEM Innovation Interest Group and the Emergency Medicine Innovation Collaborative presented an interactive workshop titled "Solving the ED Psych Crisis: An Interactive Session." Dr. Michael Wilson, chair of the Coalition on Psychiatric Emergencies, spearheaded the event, focusing on the increasing behavioral health emergencies in emergency departments (EDs). Utilizing design thinking—a human-centered approach defined by IDEO CEO Tim Brown—participants collaboratively tackled this pressing issue through empathetic problem-solving and iterative innovation. This article delves into the principles of design thinking and its transformative potential in emergency medicine (EM), illustrated by examples like Dr. Wilson’s digital tool, iCar2e, aimed at managing suicidality. By applying the five steps of design thinking—empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test—EM professionals can systematically address complex challenges, enhancing patient care and operational efficiency in the ED.