Persona Development to Illustrate Challenges Facing Three High-Need, High-Cost Patient Segments

Based on the previous segmentation work for the high-need, high-cost portfolio, three segments have been selected for persona development—patients with major or multiple complex chronic conditions, people who are <65 years old and disabled, and frail elders. The Healthwise team will conduct 30 interviews, 10 per segment, to learn about these patients’ care experiences, with specific focus on understanding the gaps and opportunities in their health services. Interview subjects will be recruited from around the country to ensure a mix of urban, suburban, and rural patients. The interviews will be mainly conducted by phone, lasting approximately one hour, and will be recorded. The interviews will be analyzed and coded for common themes of what the subpopulation is doing (tasks), feeling (concerns, fears), and saying about gaps or opportunities in their health services. Some interviews will be conducted in person, dependent on the patient’s condition, and some in-person interviews will be recorded to produce three short videos to add depth and reality to the persona. The aim of this research is to identify opportunities for changes in care delivery, from a patient’s perspective, that may reduce need (and therefore cost) in the three segments. The purpose of this project is to use these personas to add value to the Playbook being developed, using them as an introduction to the HNHC population. The goal is to use these personas as educational tools in the discussion about health services and system design. As a result, those designing health systems will be able to target and tailor services more appropriately for high-need, high-cost subgroups. Internally, the personas will also serve to put patients’ faces to our program that could shape future grants and Fund publications.