This studio is sponsored by HealthSource of Ohio. We are collaborating with HealthSource of Ohio to improve HealthSource of Ohio’s digital engagement and outreach to potential patients in Clermont County.
The team started with secondary research about Clermont County demographics, Social Determinants of Health and current gaps in the healthcare industry regarding maintaining a relationship with the patient. After the research, the team gained insights about generational demographics in Clermont County. The secondary and primary research helped the team understand the pain points regarding accessibility and transportation. Based on the 2024 Clermont County Community Health Assessment, Clermont County struggles the most in Health Care Access and Quality. Data shows that 9.2% of the 19-25 population is uninsured, and based on Ohio Department of Medicaid, Enrolled Population of March 2025, 19.37% of the total Clermont County population are Medicaid enrollees. Overall, 36% of adults are obese, 23% of adults smoke, and 32.2% of the population of Clermont County has hypertension. Clermont County's population is determined to grow; hence, the interventions must be valuable to utilize throughout the changing environment. Primary research key insights were gathered from interviews with patients and staff at HealthSource of Ohio's Batavia and New Richmond clinics, capturing the perspectives of individuals willing and able to seek care. However, these insights may not fully represent those facing more significant access barriers. Clermont County's changing demographics present an opportunity to tailor outreach by generation. While younger adults benefit from improved social support, Gen X and Baby Boomers may still face gaps. Patients today generally say they don't face many external challenges, such as getting to appointments or issues with insurance. However, costs, convenience, and the tendency to prioritize family needs over their individual health still significantly affect their health-related decisions and behaviors. Transportation remains critical for access, and patients are often willing to drive long distances to maintain relationships with trusted providers. Word-of-mouth referrals are HealthSource's most significant acquisition driver, a strategy openly emphasized by the Clinical Team. HSO's use of digital tools like patient portals, online scheduling, and automated reminders is growing, but adoption varies widely based on age, income, and comfort
with technology. Personalized digital outreach, especially to caretakers, sees the highest engagement. However, the digital divide between generations persists, reinforcing the need to balance tech investments with strong in-person community connections. Patients consistently report high satisfaction, often describing HealthSource as feeling like a "family." Positive provider relationships drive loyalty, prompting patients to be willing to travel further for care. HealthSource's emphasis on building strong bonds ensures patient retention once patients attend their first appointment. However, patients with less healthcare knowledge require more personalized attention to feel supported and are less likely to return if judged or unheard. HealthSource's mission and operations are rooted in trust, convenience, and a community outreach strategy. These strengths will remain essential as the population of Clermont County changes and patient needs evolve.
The team utilized Clermont County’s map overlaid with HealthSource of Ohio’s locations, low-income areas by block, and the current metro lines in the county. Exploring the maps helped the team understand the inconvenience that the population of Clermont County faces. The team utilized a tabular format to compare different generations under the factors of their learning style, characteristics, communication preferences, technology integration, and perception of healthcare. Using the cross-generational research, the team utilized the Persona Creation Guide to develop six personas for HealthSource of Ohio. The team created these personas to include both HealthSource of Ohio's reachable and unreachable patients to help them stay aware of the wide range of spectrum while brainstorming interventions. The final six personas were Paula, Amy, Alex, Dave, Jack, and Barbara. Further ideation focused on the developed personas and their pain points. The team put these personas in a matrix utilizing the most significant pain points or key factors bucketed under Willing (Trust, Priorities, Perception) and Able (Technology, Transportation, Time). Digital and existing resource benchmarking helped the team understand existing interventions. Mapping the patient journey for each persona helped the team identify and differentiate each individual’s specific barriers. It also revealed key points where HealthSource of Ohio can intervene effectively to support patients along their healthcare journey.
During the refinement phase, the team focused on turning insights into actionable and feasible solutions that directly respond to patient and organizational needs. Building on the primary and secondary research that the team gathered in earlier phases, we reviewed initial ideas through the lens of feasibility, alignment with HealthSource of Ohio’s mission, and potential impact based on the six personas we developed. One of the first shifts we made was narrowing the scope of our digital strategy to specifically target caretakers and underserved populations who showed the highest engagement in scheduling appointments. We also reevaluated our deliverables to ensure they met HealthSource of Ohio’s current needs and could be sustained and built upon in the future with changing guidelines and regulations. From there, the team began refining each need area (digital presence, patient experience, and access) into concrete deliverables by focusing on the strongest concepts, combining ideas where appropriate, and editing for clarity and impact. Team discussions, stakeholder feedback, and testing with HealthSource of Ohio staff identified the final deliverables. These included a digital campaign strategy with sample content and planning tools, training activity materials that emphasize empathy and patient engagement and are transferable across all employees, a new patient experience packet with a one-pager and journey map, and a persona toolkit to help staff develop and test future initiatives. Elements of the persona toolkit, such as persona cards, can be found and used within elements of the other three deliverables. To produce the final materials, the team collaborated internally and reviewed with HealthSource staff to ensure accuracy, usability, and alignment. The final products were high-quality print formats, including spiral-bound training and reference workbooks and guides, patient-facing one-pagers, and toolkit binders with removable worksheets and decision-making tools. During the refinement presentation, the HealthSource of Ohio team expressed enthusiasm about how quickly they could connect with and see the practical value of the tools for both personal learning and day-to-day use.
A multi-disciplinary studio focused on telling the story of HealthSource of Ohio (HSO), who for 47 years provided healthcare services in underserved communities that have transformed people’s lives. The deliverable for the project is to develop a toolbox that will educate the community on the range of services that are available, as well as demonstrate to philanthropy the value of the services provided and the direct impact.
Background Knowledge
The Live Well team read around 150 educational articles to build a basic understanding of project topics. This research was analyzed and benchmarked into buckets: healthcare in rural areas, storytelling, donor/ philanthropic organizations, demographics, and financial.
Understanding HealthSource
The Live Well team visited HealthSource of Ohio's Eastgate and Felicity-Franklin health centers. The team also interviewed 12 people including 3 donors/ philanthropic organizations, 2 community partners, 5 HealthSource employees, and 2 experts.
Insights Into Working & Succeeding in Healthcare
Chelsie Hornsby, Senior Director of Business Development at HealthSource of Ohio, talked to the Live Well team about HealthSource's marketing strategy, story collection process, and school-based health centers. She provided valuable insight that helped develop the final deliverable and implementation plan.
Benchmark Analysis
The Live Well team analyzed weeks of benchmarking research and created visuals for the upcoming research presentation, including stakeholder and connection maps.
Co-Creation
The Live Well team walked HealthSource through a co-creation session to decipher elements of their toolbox, deciding what was feasible for completion and most applicable to HealthSource's needs.
Toolbox and Feedback
The Live Well Team presented an in progress tool kit to HealthSource including a networking database, story archive, one-pager, personas, and HSO Foundation website edits. The networking map and story archive were continued into the refinement phase, while the rest of the toolkit was taken up by the HealthSource team.
After applying feedback, the Live Well team created a comprehensive toolkit that contains a networking map and story archive.
The Networking Database
A filterable excel document of over 500 current and dream community partners. Organized by theme, location, type of service, and degree of connection.
The Story Archive
A compiled excel document of impact stories from patients, employees, and community partners of HealthSource of Ohio.
Implementation
The two excel documents will be utilized by HealthSource to achieve dream connections through current connections.