American Hospital Association Recognizes ID’s Equitable Healthcare Lab for Hospital-at-Home Innovation

The American Hospital Association has spotlighted UChicago Medicine’s Hospital-at-Home program as a national example of care delivery transformation, recognizing a model shaped in collaboration with the Institute of Design’s Equitable Healthcare Lab. The acknowledgment reflects the growing role of design in helping health systems rethink where and how care happens.

Led by Kim Erwin, the Equitable Healthcare Lab partnered with UChicago Medicine to design an end-to-end service model for this new care line, helping translate hospital-quality care into the home setting while maintaining safety, continuity, and equitable access. The work engaged more than 85 patients, community members, frontline providers, and community health workers to understand concerns, identify service requirements, and ensure the model was culturally competent and inclusive by design.

The resulting system included a comprehensive service blueprint, patient and caregiver education materials aligned with health literacy guidelines, and an Equity Roadmap for building inclusive capacity over time. The first Hospital-at-Home patient was enrolled in February 2023, marking a major milestone in the implementation of this design-led systems innovation.

A companion communication design project extended this work into the patient journey itself. Building from the original research and blueprint, ID students developed communication touchpoints spanning recruitment and enrollment, transition to home, ongoing care, and discharge—translating complex service operations into clear, supportive experiences for patients and caregivers.

This national recognition affirms what the Equitable Healthcare Lab continues to demonstrate: when equity is treated as infrastructure, design becomes an essential force in the future of healthcare systems.

Read more about this Hospital at Home project recognition at the American Hospital Association website.