HealthBridge: AI-Powered Healthcare Navigation for International Students

Role: Team Member (AISS CUBES) | Duration: Fall 2025 - First semester | Focus: Healthcare Accessibility, Service Design, AI Applications

This group project addressed healthcare access barriers faced by international students in Estonia through comprehensive service design methodology culminating in an AI-powered multilingual healthcare companion. Working with diverse team members, we conducted extensive primary research (7 in-depth interviews, 21 survey responses) revealing that 80% of international students face communication issues when accessing healthcare, with average insurance understanding rated 4/10.

Our research employed multiple methods including interviews with EU and non-EU students, questionnaires validating findings across demographics, journey mapping comparing current versus ideal experiences, persona creation representing user archetypes, How Might We (HMW) question framing, benchmarking of similar solutions, and design sprint for rapid ideation. The current journey analysis revealed five pain points across the healthcare access lifecycle: confusion and anxiety at discovery stage with no clear guidance, fragmented Estonian-language information during research stage, poor signage and staff language limitations during navigation, inability to understand diagnosis with 2+ hour waits during care delivery, and unclear follow-up instructions with complex reimbursement post-care.

Key findings quantified systemic barriers: family doctor registration process unclear with TRP required but taking 3+ months to obtain, upfront costs of €150-500 creating financial burden with insurance acceptance unclear and reimbursement process confusing, poor physical signposting combined with Estonian-only digital platforms providing no centralized information source. The research revealed that students rely on fragmented sources (friends, internet, AI tools) rather than official channels, and most don't have family doctors despite requirement.

HealthBridge addresses these barriers through four integrated features: (1) AI Chat Assistant providing 24/7 healthcare guidance in multiple languages, answering questions about symptoms, family doctor registration, insurance navigation, and system procedures; (2) Live Translation offering real-time voice and text translation during medical visits with ability to book independent interpreters for appointments; (3) Smart Navigation helping users find English-speaking doctors, book appointments, locate facilities accepting their insurance, and navigate physical spaces; (4) Document Hub enabling storage of medical records, tracking insurance status, managing prescriptions, and translating medical documents.

The improved journey transformation eliminates confusion at every stage: students ask AI assistant about symptoms and appropriate care locations (confident, informed, clear next steps), receive centralized information in preferred language (single trustworthy source, multilingual), use app navigation and book interpreters in advance (easy wayfinding, language support ready), communicate clearly during visits with real-time translation (understands treatment, reduced wait anxiety), and receive clear follow-up instructions with simplified reimbursement tracking (clear instructions, simple reimbursement).

The prototype demonstrates end-to-end functionality through interactive mockups showing chat interface, navigation screens, translator booking, and document management. Our presentation to stakeholders included current versus improved journey comparison, feature demonstrations, and proposed next steps: usability workshops with 6+ students testing translation accuracy, navigation clarity, and overall system trust to inform iterative refinement.

The project reinforced that healthcare accessibility extends beyond medical care delivery to encompass information access, language support, and anxiety reduction for vulnerable populations. Working in diverse team developed cross-cultural communication skills, collaborative design processes, and ability to synthesize multiple stakeholder perspectives into cohesive solution.

Skills Demonstrated:

User research, journey mapping, persona development, How Might We framing, design sprint methodology, AI application design, multilingual service design, prototype development, stakeholder communication. 

Details of the entire project can be found here: 

Google drive