Yah, No Podcast

Hey Yah, No peoples: 2020 called and said it’s time for a revolution. But if you’re like our final guest of the season, you’ve been asking for revolt for quite a while now. And given these changing times, who better to wrap up this amazing season than the visionary, Dr. Victor Montori. Dr. Montori is an endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic, co-founder of @patientrevolution, and author of Why We Revolt: A Patient Revolution for Careful and Kind Care. Industrial healthcare is failing its patients. We know this. So how do we do things differently? Where the heck do we start? Well, M+T had the chance to talk to Dr. Montori about the elements of a healthcare revolution. We’ll give you this first step: it starts with language. But there is so much more to do. EVERYONE needs to be a part of this revolution, regardless of what your role is in healthcare. Because, health is a human right. And we all deserve care – not just a generalized notion of care, but careful and kind care. Episode 40 (!) is our last episode of S

Raise your hand if you support things that bring you laughter, happiness and emotional fulfillment. (Us, plz). Now raise your hand if those are feelings you associate with the healthcare system…Yeah...that’s what we thought. Joy, delight, and happiness are emotions. And so are confusion, frustration and anxiety. Which of these sentiments come to mind when you think about your last doctor’s visit (or even making an appointment)? How people feel has a major impact on the patient journey. Healthcare is hard, so why do we really have to make it so much harder on folks. Episode 39 highlights that if this were to happen in any other industry - it would be straight up bad customer experience. We are so excited to invite one of our fave podcasters, Zeev Neuwirth, creator and host of “Creating a New Healthcare” for a rousing discussion to bring back the humanity in healthcare. Oh – and Zeev is also the Senior Medical Director of Population Health at Atrium Health, as well as the author of Reframing Healthcare: A

Design has been welcomed into many disciplines over the past couple decades. While it’s exciting to see the world embracing design and problem-solving skills to help teams make critical decisions and strategies, sometimes it feels like “design” has been distilled down to a one-size-fits-all process. Is it possible that in today’s design practice, we’ve forgotten about the importance of aesthetic, delight, and quality? Have designers lost their unique voice and POV? In Episode 38, as T+M grapple with what’s happening in design, they turn to their longtime friend and colleague Christian Madsbjerg, Human Science guru and Founder of ReD Associates, for a chat. The trio explore the value of the designer’s perspective and discuss questions that matter to design today: What happened when “design thinking” entered the mainstream. Is everyone really a designer? Can design address all of our problems? Fear not, Yah, No listeners, there may be a middle ground. Or as Christian prefers to call it: The third wave of

Diversity is being invited to the party, and inclusion is being asked to dance. Sometimes it feels like there’s a lot of people at the party, but not everybody can hear the music. In Episode 37, M+T are so excited to dance with the brilliant founder and CEO of Onboard Health: Andre Blackman. Onboard Health is focused on building a platform to build a more diverse and inclusive workforce ecosystem to power the future of health. Um, hi. We have an extra pair of tap shoes. How can we help? It seems like everybody knows diversity is important, but there seems to be a gap when it comes to taking action. How do we get past this?? Luckily, Andre has some motivating thoughts (and tips!) about diverse practices for healthcare companies. If you’re interested in empowering a more inclusive community within your own work, then you do not want to miss out on this episode. Inclusion and equity is critical - especially in healthcare where so many unique needs are simply not being addressed. Tune in!

Innovative healthcare startups - that is, ones that are driven by human needs - are going to require a shift from the traditional startup mindset. Yes, you need to embrace risk. Yes, you need to move quickly. But you also must be willing to bring human centered design into the process. That’s a risk too, right? But so often with risk, comes failure, and M+T couldn’t talk about startups without proper reflection on saying goodbye to their own, Cahoots. Sometimes you pour your whole heart into a company, and then you have to shut the doors, but you never walk away without gathering some invaluable learnings. For extra credit, go ahead and dig way back through our archives to Season 1, Episode 2 to hear about the origins of Cahoots!

Happy New Year, Yah, No peoples! What do we have in store for you in 2020? Well, as usual, we’ve got a lot of questions on our minds for the new decade. So, first off, we want to ask: What makes a question “good”? Asking good questions is a skill. And how do you get good at asking questions? Good question! Luckily, it’s something you can practice, and we’ve got Miya and Tina here to cover the basics as well as share thoughts on how to react answers. Good questions can help us get to the root cause of a problem in healthcare innovation – especially when asking people to open up about emotional or sensitive topics. But being a good question-asker isn’t just for research…if you let it seep into every aspect of your life, you’ll be a lot more fun at dinner parties, too. AND spirit of asking questions, we’ve got a riddle for you in this episode. Listen in and message us the correct answer here or at yahnopodcast@gmail.com. You don’t want to miss out! So, our final question: Are you ready for Episode 35???

Episode 34: Cultural Probes in Healthcare by Tina Park and Miya Osaki

Mild Cognitive Impairment. Frailty. You’ve heard the terms right? But did you know that they’re not ACTUAL diagnoses. Meaning there isn’t really any medication that is prescribed that will make it better. And when there isn’t a diagnoses that means that healthcare as a whole isn’t necessarily addressing the needs of these tens of millions of people who suffer from both. Tina and Miya thought it was time to surface these important issues and consider how to support these issues which are easily overlooked. Feeling vexed? We’d suggest starting by taking another listen to Yah, No Episode 29 with artist/designer/researcher Sara Hendren, as her social model of health is a great primer for this episode's topic: The Undiagnosable.

Hey Yah, No friends, we’re back, and we’re ready to get down to business! Business and healthcare, that is. Miya and Tina are kicking things off this season with a spirited discussion about rising healthcare costs and how employers are starting to get creative in footing the bill. What are the pros and cons of these new models? What’s best for the patients/employees? Who’s going to take care of the population outside of this system? And what about employers having access to your health data? (Miya is creeped out by this, Tina disagrees!) Tina and Miya take a moment to break down what these models look like and who stands to gain from them- or lose out completely.

This marks the third episode in our “Designing for Healthcare” series. You know what that means: we made a trilogy. We’re basically George Lucas. In Season 2, we chatted with an expert designer, and in season 3 we talked to an expert doctor. And now we’re closing it out by speaking with a different kind of expert: a patient advocate. We are so excited to welcome friend of Diagram– Jen Horonjeff, to talk about the absolute necessity of gaining patient perspectives through co-design. But wait there’s more! Jen is also the Founder and CEO of Savvy Cooperative, a patient-owned service that matches companies and researchers directly to patients. Join the conversation about how to work with patients in design and how valuing patients’ insights empowers them to own their stories and their experiences, rather than simply accepting healthcare the way it is. Sit back and tune in for the final episode of our epic healthcare trilogy. And when you’re done, head over to Savvy’s YouTube page to watch Jen’s interview of

Hey Yah, No friends! Do you miss us yet? It’s been a whole month since we released our last episode of season 3. Lucky for you, we’ve been working hard to bring you our first ever BONUS episode of Yah, No. If you loved Episode 29–Disability and Social-Minded Design, where we had our conversation with extraordinaire Sara Hendren–(stats don’t lie, we know you loved it), then we can’t wait for you to listen to this surprise follow up episode. Be sure to tune in as we round out our conversation about design, disability and accessibility with Sara’s insights on aging, dependence, and adaptation, and how we can start to reframe our assumptions about what makes a good life. It’s just a little something to get you through these last hot summer months while you eagerly await our brand new season.

Health inequity is a real problem. And we’re mad about it. Minorities are underrepresented as changemakers in healthcare and often overlooked as patients. It’s our last episode of Season 3, and if this one feels personal, that’s because it is. Join us for the finale, as Miya and Tina discuss inclusion in healthcare — or lack thereof — and how the danger of biases in systems has affected their own families. But there is hope! M+T also talk about people who bring empathy, understanding and innovative methods of working, and how designers can help affect real change. We believe that healthcare is a human right, and designers should play a role in this conversation. Oh, and Tina may or may not be a woman. So, tune in for that.

Yes, design takes craft, but it also requires deeply observing and questioning the world around you, engaging communities, and maybe even using guerilla tactics. Enter: Sara Hendren– artist, design researcher, writer, professor at Olin College of Engineering and all-around badass. Much of Sara’s work focuses on assistive and adaptive technologies, as well as disability rights and advocacy. Our penultimate episode of season 3 explores the intersection of design, disability and accessibility. Join Miya and Tina as Sara explains the origins of her Accessibility Icon Project, unpacks considering disability as a social model versus a medical model, and shares her belief that “design has it’s best work when it’s poking on the status quo.”

In Season 2, Episode 12, Katie McCurdy, healthcare designer extraordinaire (and good friend) joined us for an insightful conversation about bringing more designers into healthcare. On the flip side, more and more healthcare providers see the value of design, too. Doctoring, however, is not designing- so what exactly is the role of design from the provider’s point of view? Tina and Miya reached out to Dr. Lalita Abhyankar, Family Physician and friend of the podcast, to share opinions on the benefits of bringing design into the clinic. (Yah, no…The EMR is BROKEN.) Grab your stethoscope and your Post-its and listen in as Dr. Lalita talks about the creative side of medicine and the challenges doctors may face when healthcare doesn’t embrace a designerly mindset.

In healthcare, how can you truly understand how people will use a product or service when humans are unpredictable, health is difficult to manage, and you don’t know always what the end product or service should be? In order to understand human behavior, and all the idiosyncrasies that go along with it (peanut butter and mayo sandwiches, anyone?), you need to find inventive ways to conduct research. Tune in for Episode 27 to learn about the unconventional methods that M+T have developed over the years - such as interactive interviews and experiential prototyping – to uncover more meaningful insights about humans and their health.

We’re halfway through Season 3! Join us for the “check in” episode where Miya and Tina cover three topics they’re interested in right now: inclusivity in clinical trials, women in leadership, and a revisit of the privacy conversation from Episode 23 – this time with a small glimmer of hope. What are you waiting for?! Tap that play button, and tune in for a rousing game of Yah vs. No, a subtle tweak to the show intro, and some important shout outs to leaders who are working hard to make positive change.

Patients are used to the healthcare industry treating the mind and the body as two completely different systems, but Tina and Miya know from their work in chronic disease, that mental and physical health are inextricably linked. Join us for Episode 25, as Miya and Tina meditate, share tips on interview techniques and relay research strategies that break down the stigma around mental health. They discuss how having a sensitivity toward the research engenders trust, allowing patients to open up and explore difficult topics such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Considering patients holistically is complicated, but not impossible. Unlike meditating- which Tina will likely never do.

It’s no secret that AI-powered technology is changing the landscape of healthcare. But how is it being maximized? And is it helping, or hurting? The possibilities are overwhelming, and Tina and Miya want answers! And if we’re talking AI, what better expert than Siri? Nope, not that Siri. Siri Betts-Sonstegard, Design Research Lead at IBM Watson Health. Join our hostesses for a fascinating conversation with Human Siri, as they talk about the future of AI in the healthcare industry, biases in AI, and what it’s like to have a robot as a colleague.

Don’t “keep out” of this debate on privacy! Tina thinks that the evolution of privacy in healthcare will help patients level the playing field, but Miya questions who’s really going to benefit when we allow our data to be accessed. From digital health to social media, new technologies in healthcare are changing the definition of privacy. Patients are more willing to share than ever, but at what cost? Who owns our data? What is it being used for? Who can we trust!? Well, M+T, of course… Join us for Episode 23, as Tina and Miya consider the yahs and nos of sharing your health data.

Designers need to be great observers, especially in the complex world of healthcare. You need to look beyond the obvious, and see below the surface in order to solve problems in a meaningful way. But that’s easier said than done. So Tina and Miya are wondering: What is the difference between seeing and looking? How do you become a great observer? Is it something that can be taught? Tune in to find out if you hate the answer as much as Miya does! (Hint: Practice makes perfect.)