Navigating a Complex System: How Policymakers can Harness Patient Journey Mapping to Improve Health Care Experiences and Outcomes

Jen Horonjeff, PhD, is a patient advocate and the founder & CEO of Savvy Cooperative. She was named one of the 50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur Magazine, alongside Elon Musk and Reese Witherspoon, for her work at Savvy, the first patient-owned co-op that helps companies equitably gather input and insights from diverse patients. Jen grew up with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, survived a brain tumor, holds a PhD in Environmental Medicine from NYU, and previously worked as a health outcomes researcher at Columbia University Medical Center, a human factors engineer for med devices and major tech companies, and an advisor to the FDA. Jen serves on the Board of Directors for The Sequoia Project, a non-profit focused on health data exchange, the Advisory Board of Trialbee, a clinical trial recruitment company, and numerous other committees to ensure the patient voice is included.

Stacey Chang is a designer of complex adaptive systems that can respond to the dynamic challenge of producing health in human society, and currently advises a broad array of efforts seeking to build more sustainable, equitable, and effective models. Prior to founding New Origin Studio, Stacey served as the Founding and Executive Director of the Design Institute for Health at the University of Texas at Austin. Before his academic tenure, Stacey served as the Managing Director of the Healthcare practice at IDEO, the global design and innovation firm. Stacey presents frequently and is widely published, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM Catalyst, Harvard Business Review, and Politico. He has served as a TEDMED Editorial Advisory Board member, a Thought Leader for NEJM Catalyst, an Eisenhower Fellow, and an advisor to the Global Delivery arm of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He holds degrees in engineering from MIT and Stanford.

Hala H. Durrah (she/her) is an independent patient family engagement consultant. Her passion for patient family engagement work stems from her experience as a mother of a chronically ill child who has undergone two liver transplants and a bone marrow transplant. As a subject matter expert and policy analyst in patient partnership and engagement, Hala serves as a consultant on projects focused on patient centered measurement, quality improvement, patient safety, health equity, child health, healthcare transformation, medical education and board certification, patient partnered research, and patient experience. In 2020, she was elected to the American Board of Emergency Medicine as their first public member director and recently selected to serve as the public member on the Committee for Certification to the American Board of Medical Specialties. Hala has advised and provided her expertise to many organizations including, but not limited to, the American Institutes for Research, National Association of Community Health Centers, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, National Academy of Medicine, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Community Catalyst, National Quality Forum, American Hospital Association, MedStar Health, and Anne Arundel Medical Center. Hala currently serves as core faculty, a core partner, and family advisory lead for the Accelerating Child Health Transformation project. She has also published the article “My Child Is Sick; Don’t Call Her A ‘Consumer’ in Health Affairs. Hala received a B.A. in international affairs from George Washington University and her M.A. in Tourism Administration, also from George Washington University.