FRUM

In order for small and medium-sized hospitals, which play a pivotal role as medical institutions, to have competitiveness in the fierce medical market, they need practical revitalization measures that utilize hospital service features unique to small and medium-sized hospitals.

As part of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s design technology development project in 2012, FRUM developed practical service design guidelines for the revitalization of small and medium-sized hospitals in cooperation with color design research institute I.R.I Design Co., Ltd. and Medical Group Bestian Co., Ltd.

FRUM developed these guidelines with an emphasis on improving the patient experience by categorizing the services of ​​small and medium hospitals into four areas: a “branding service” to establish a friendly, unique hospital identity, an “environmental service” that helps the patient’s psychological and physical healing and satisfies their stability and convenience needs, a “way-finding service” that reduces navigational errors by putting up signs inside and outside the hospital, and a “communication service” that establishes emotional bonds based on the identity and friendliness as a hospital. We also provided a small and medium-sized hospital service design standard map, which put value on practical use in small and medium-sized hospitals, as a template.

While we were working on this project, a “Service Design Seminar for the Revitalization of Small and Medium-sized Specialty Hospitals,” which introduced in-depth information based on diverse approaches to “service design” in the medical field was successfully held. The developed guidelines are being continuously introduced and utilized within the medical and design industries, as a representative case of service design development in the Korean medical field.