Additional precautions in healthcare—such as isolation protocols, PPE use, and enhanced sanitation—are critical for preventing the spread of infectious diseases.
At Sunnybrook, staff struggled with fragmented documentation across paper forms and multiple IT systems, leading to communication gaps and increased risks to patient care. These challenges became more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, as reports of missing or outdated precautions rose.
In response, the Patient Safety department engaged our team to a new feature in SunnyCare that would enable consistent documentation of precautions. Because each unit had its own workflow, we prioritized understanding these processes to ensure the solution was adaptable and effective for all clinical staff.
Oct 2022 - Sept 2024
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC)
Project Lead and
UX Design Specialist
Clinical Analyst, 2 front-end developers and 1 back-end developer
Website App
Axure, Figma, Jira
Journey Mapping, Contextual Inquiry, Workshops, Usability Testing (Moderated - In-person and Remote)
Due to the proprietary and confidential nature of this project, I have obfuscated designs from this case study.
Based on past reports from the Patient Safety team, staff documented precautions in multiple places, leading to missing or outdated information. They needed a centralized system for consistent documentation.
I led kick-off meetings with the Patient Safety Director, Infection Control and Emergency Nursing Team Leads, and the Emergency System Administrator.
We identified that the biggest documentation challenge occurred when patients were admitted through the Emergency Department (ED), which accounts for most hospital admissions.
At this stage, there was limited information about the current workflows. To address this, we conducted onsite observations and contextual inquiries in both the ED and the Patient Flow department, which manages bed assignments and patient transfers.
We focused on current workflows, challenges, pain points, and tools used. We also closely observed and documented how staff communicated throughout their processes
This research was crucial to ensure our feature for consistent documentation of additional precautions would integrate smoothly with existing workflows.
Building on our workflow research, we consolidated our findings and developed actionable recommendations. I created process maps and system screenshots to clearly illustrate where and how precaution information is documented and shared.
The key finding was that the Emergency Department (ED) team typically documents precautions formally only at the time of patient admission, with the bed request playing a critical role in capturing additional precautions.
As a result, we recommended developing a dedicated bed request module for the Emergency Department as part of the project requirements.
Current and future state workflow
We presented these to key stakeholders—including Patient Safety, Patient Flow, ED PAA and Nursing Leads, Infection Control, and Implementation Directors—through multiple meetings. This collaborative review helped the group unanimously agree on the solution.
Following stakeholder alignment, I developed clickable prototypes in Axure to simulate the workflows identified during journey mapping. This helped staff experience realistic interactions and provide targeted feedback. I collaborated with the Infection Control team to refine features like discontinuation workflows, date/time stamps, and precaution history views. I also worked with developers to ensure the designs were feasible within SunnyCare’s system constraints.
Example of Prototype in Axure
Using the prototypes, I conducted three rounds of usability testing with 23 participants from our target users—nursing staff, infection control coordinators, and PAAs. Each round informed iterative improvements, focusing on addressing key issues before moving to the next. Key enhancements included:
After finalizing designs through usability testing, I presented them to key committees—including Infection Control, Legal, and Privacy teams, to gather final feedback and ensure compliance.
Working with my clinical analyst, we also created detailed design specifications for developers, covering scope, clinical decisions, task flows, data fields, and formal documentation. A major part of the solution involved backend automated workflows that enable data to flow seamlessly across systems, reducing manual user effort.
Design spec example: formal documentation needing precaution update
To support development, I created a process workflow diagram outlining how these automated functions integrate within the bed request timeline. This helped developers understand the rationale and user context, fostering collaboration and identifying potential gaps.
Because the Emergency Department and Patient Flow systems are managed by external vendors, we worked closely with their system administrators to map data fields and coordinate the necessary updates for integration.
Example of mapping care service details from SunnyCare to BMS (HL7 Integration)
Since this feature introduced a workflow change across all three Sunnybrook campuses in Toronto, we collaborated closely with the Infection Control and Implementation teams to prepare training materials and deliver sessions that would support smooth adoption by front-line staff.
The launch was well-received —staff adapted quickly and integrated the new workflow into their routines.
Early feedback from front-line users highlighted...
