Merlin Patient Portal: Real-time transparency for cancer patients during treatment
Drawing on 6 years of healthcare UX experience, I designed Merlin to address a critical gap in patient experience: the lack of real-time transparency that patients expect from every other industry.
Project Details:
Type: Strategic Design Exploration
Role: End-to-end Product Strategy & Design
Focus: Two-sided platform for patient experience + hospital operations
Expertise Applied: Healthcare UX, service design, operational efficiency, privacy-compliant design
Software: Figma, Adobe XD, Adobe InDesign, Illustrator
The Problem
The Transparency Gap
Research shows cancer patients wait an average of 183.5 minutes from arrival to treatment¹ yet receive no visibility into delays, doctor availability, or when they should actually arrive. Airports show flight delays, restaurants send table-ready texts, ride-share apps track drivers - yet healthcare, where the stakes are highest, leaves patients in the dark.
Meanwhile, hospitals already have the infrastructure through barcode systems, patient tracking, and scheduling software, but lack a patient-facing layer to communicate real-time status while maintaining privacy compliance.
The Challenge:
Design a platform that provides flight-tracker-level transparency for patients while giving hospitals operational insights to improve efficiency - all within healthcare privacy and regulatory constraints.
Research & Approach
I analyzed wait time studies in oncology settings, examined transparency models from airlines and transportation apps, and researched hospital operational systems and existing infrastructure.
Key Insights:
Patients feel powerless during medical uncertainty - transparency reduces anxiety
Hospitals have tracking data but no patient-facing communication layer
Real-time updates must balance transparency with HIPAA privacy requirements
Operational visibility helps hospitals identify bottlenecks and improve efficiency
Design Considerations
Privacy & Compliance
Status updates are carefully anonymized ("Doctor is with a previous patient" not "with Patient X"). All real-time tracking uses patient-controlled permissions and meets HIPAA requirements.
Implementation Strategy
Full deployment requires significant system integration. A phased rollout would start with high-volume, predictable appointments (routine checkups, scheduled infusions) before expanding to complex care - acknowledging the reality of legacy hospital systems while demonstrating long-term value.
The solution: two-sided platform
Patient Experience
Real-Time Appointment Intelligence Live status tracking with smart notifications: "Your doctor is running 30 minutes late - arrive at 10:30 AM instead of 10:00 AM." Transparent updates show progress: "Doctor with previous patient" → "Lab processing results" → "Ready for you."
Seamless Hospital Experience
QR code check-in (like mobile boarding pass) eliminates front desk wait
Turn-by-turn indoor navigation for large hospital campuses
In-app food ordering timed to appointment status
Automated valet: request car pickup from treatment room
Unified view: appointments, results, messages, prescriptions
Hospital Operations Dashboard
Efficiency Analytics Real-time visibility into bottlenecks (pharmacy delays, lab processing times), average wait times by department and doctor, patient flow visualization, and no-show pattern analysis.
Process Optimization Data-driven scheduling improvements, resource allocation based on actual appointment durations, and predictive modeling for better capacity planning.
The Impact
For Patients: Reduced wasted time and anxiety, control during vulnerable moments
For Hospitals: Data-driven improvements, reduced no-shows, competitive differentiation, measurable efficiency gains
The complexity of healthcare systems is exactly why thoughtful design intervention is valuable. This concept demonstrates strategic thinking beyond individual features by framing healthcare transparency as a service design problem.
¹ Mahrous M, El Shaer E, Rezik L, Taha S, Yosef A. Decreasing prolonged waiting times for chemotherapy administration for patients with cancer. Global Journal on Quality and Safety in Healthcare. 2018;1(2):44-48.
