Patient-centered Orthopedic Platform for Pre- and Post-Surgical Journey

The Data-Centric Design (DCD) Lab develops tools and methods to facilitate the use of behavioral data as participatory design material. Behavioral data capture the What: what people do, feel, or experience through sensors or self-reports. It is a valuable material for designers to gain insights into problem and solution spaces. In this context, participatory design methods help designers interact with people whose behavior is captured in the data to extract and understand the Why.

We are teaming up with Zimmer Biomet, a global leader in musculoskeletal healthcare transitioning from implants to solutions provider. They are transforming the surgical journey and patient care with ZBEdge, their suite of integrated digital technologies, robotics, implant solutions, and consultancy services. The mymobility care management platform is a core data technology of Zimmer Biomet to address the pre- and post-operative phases of a surgical journey. Its patient-facing side usually works on mobile devices and provides education and guidance to patients via text and videos while allowing patients to communicate remotely with their care teams. It empowers patients to take an active role in their recovery. For the care teams, it provides constant updates on how their patients are doing since it collects mobility and patient-reported data (surveys). mymobility is present in 22 countries across five continents and already helped dozens of thousands of patients.

While technically robust, Zimmer Biomet’s solution won’t deliver its promised efficiency without providing and communicating high value to patients and hospitals to make them both actively engaged. We are looking for two master’s students to work collaboratively to understand what matters to patients concerning mymobility and how it impacts the future development and implementation of the platform. Building on this patient-centered perspective, each project will have its specific challenge:

• From an IPD perspective, we need to understand the complete implementation of mymobility from the perspective of the clinician, the patient, and Zimmer Biomet. What are the benefits of this full implementation?
• From an SPD perspective, we need to understand the health-economic value of mymobility for the different stakeholders and how to show this to hospitals and policymakers.

Are you passionate about Medesign and the responsible use of data? Are you looking to support thousands of people’s health and quality of life while making healthcare systems more sustainable? Do you want to actively engage with an international network of customers, patients, and their data? We need you! Seize this unique opportunity to leverage data-centric design tools and methods to support Zimmer Biomet’s mission to “alleviate pain and improve the quality of life for people around the world.” Through this project, you will be exposed to a leading global company in Orthopaedic Data and Technology internationally. You will have the opportunity to be acquainted with the latest technologies and shape solutions that will inevitably be mainstream in the future of healthcare.