Nmblr Inspire Step 1: Journey map

This process empowers you to:

• See the journey through the patient’s eyes: Identify where patients struggle, succeed, or need more support.
• Spot the moments that matter: Focus your efforts on the points with the greatest potential for positive impact.
• Drive meaningful change: Prioritise improvements that enhance outcomes, satisfaction, and efficiency for both patients and healthcare professionals.

Taking the time to map the journey ensures your team is aligned, motivated, and equipped to make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

What to Include in the Journey Map

The journey map organises the patient’s experience into five key stages. These stages provide a structured overview but can be renamed or tailored to fit the specific disease state you’re working with. There are always five stages, by default:

1. Origination (first symptoms, initial concerns)
2. Diagnosis (tests, receiving the diagnosis)
3. Treatment (starting and adjusting treatment)
4. Fulfilment (accessing medication, ongoing care)
5. Monitoring/Adherence (follow-ups, managing long-term care)

For Each Stage:

• List the steps: Break down what happens at each stage (e.g., 'First doctor visit', 'Blood test', 'Treatment discussion').
• For each step, capture:
  • Location: Where does this step take place? (e.g., at home, clinic, pharmacy)
  • Key Decision: What important decision is made here?
  • Stakeholders: Who is involved or influences the decision? (e.g., patient, family, doctor, nurse)
  • Stakeholder Feelings: How does each stakeholder feel about the decision? (e.g., anxious, hopeful, uncertain)
  • Potential for Impact: Is there an opportunity here to:
    • Improve patient outcomes?
    • Improve patient satisfaction?
    • Improve healthcare professional satisfaction?
    • Reduce healthcare costs?
  • Problem/Opportunity: If there is potential for impact, what specific problem needs to be solved or what opportunity could be seized?

How to Work as a Team:

• Collaborate: Typically, one or more people will map the journey up to (but not including) the 'impact and opportunity' fields.
• Discuss and Align: As a team, discuss each step to agree:
  • Is there potential for significant impact at this step?
  • If yes, which type of impact is most important?
• Define the Problem/Opportunity: Collaborate to clearly describe the problem or opportunity to be addressed at this step.
• Capture Observations: The lead should note any interesting observations that arise during discussion.
• Iterate: As your understanding deepens, feel free to add, remove, or move steps to better reflect the actual patient journey.

When to Move On

Once you’ve mapped all stages and steps, discussed potential impacts, and described the key problems or opportunities, you’re ready to proceed to Step 2: Moments That Matter.

Tip: Your journey map is a living document - update it as you learn more or as circumstances change.