This project was done as a pilot project of the Illahee Institute. There were four of us in our Participatory Design class who decided to take it on. We started by doing secondary research to become more familiar with the health care system, followed by primary research interviews with various stakeholders in the system. We went through a lot of work to decide at what level of detail we wanted to define our stakeholders, and then just started in trying to understand the relationships between them. Our final iterations are based on the maps that we made with participants in our workshop. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to share our maps with Wendell Potter and a group of key individuals in the health care system. We were given a positive response and gathered some ideas as to how we could take this project further in the future.

1. Health care
Working toward Affordability & Accessibility

2. The Problem
It is difficult to create change toward
affordability and accessibility in the U.S. health
care system because of its complexity.

3. Assumptions + Biases
- It is complex -Our research and interviews within the
health care system were heavily
- There are numerous stockholders skewed by people working towards
- It is expensive change, specifically single-payer health
care systems
- A lot of people are unhappy with it -as a result, our systems maps and
project research tend towards these
- It is always a political agenda viewpoints
- It is confusing
- It is a big system
- Without insurance you are SOL
- It is a problem

4. Health Care System Map
Examples

5. Health Care System Map
Examples

6. Research

7. Questions
Who are the policy changers/ decision makers?
What are they basing their decision on?
Who sets the prices for insurance and what are they
Based on?
Who do these people listen to?
Does or can the public have and say, and if so how?
What are the relationships between stakeholders?

8. The Facts
● No industrialized country in the world has a health care
system like the U.S..
● Most bankruptcies in the U.S. are from medical
emergencies.
● Insurance companies are brokers with too much power
● Massachusetts' health care reform has 96% of the
population covered, but it has not solved their problems.
● Reform in Vermont will transform their health care into
a single payer system.

9. System Maps

10. System Maps

11. System Maps

12. Workshop
PARTICIPANTS
Michael Hillis
Activist from Lights on Healthcare
Richard Bruno
Medical Student at OHSU and president of
Mad as Hell Doctors Student Chapter
Don Harker
Author, Birdwatcher, Epiphany Expert, and PNCA
Collaborative Design Supermentor

13. Workshop

14. Workshop

15. Workshop

16. Final Maps

17. Final Maps

18. Final Maps

19. Final Maps

20. Matrix

21. Next steps
Further develop system maps for providers and policy
makers toward creating cohesion amongst progressives.
● Pharmacy-Insurance
● Doctors-Hospitals
● Pharmaceuticals-Insurance

22. Next steps
Create a campaign using strategic language for single-
payer health care.

23. Next steps