Mapping the Canadian Dental Care Plan

As the leader of the Client Experience design team for the new Canadian Dental Care Plan from January to December 2023, I oversaw a range of activities including workshop facilitation, service mapping, usability testing, data analysis, and content development.

Client:

Low income Canadians without dental coverage.

Challenge:

The primary challenge was to develop the CDCP service delivery model and provide recommendations to enhance the client experience within a highly constrained environment characterized by tight deadlines, lengthy approval processes, and varying stakeholder buy-in. Additionally, creating a seamless service delivery for a program owned by a separate department (Health Canada) added complexity, requiring our client experience team to act as the client advocate and provide essential expertise.

Solutions:

1. Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration:

   • Facilitated multi-departmental stakeholder workshops with representatives from Health Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency, and Service Canada to establish business requirements, roles, and responsibilities.

   • Developed detailed mapping artefacts, including process flows and service blueprints, which included flags for processes needing development and potential issues in the client journey.

   • Managed stakeholder buy-in by iteratively presenting comprehensive client flows, service blueprints, and process maps, to illustrate the impact of various decisions and critical information exchanges between departments.

2. Client-Centric Communication:

   • Utilized plain language principles and UX writing strategies to create clear and accessible communication products for target populations.

   • Acted as the voice of the client for the online application, ensuring user-centric insights and recommendations were incorporated.

   • Developed and tested communication products and the phone IVR system using comprehensive protocols. Conducted user testing at Service Canada centers with volunteers, iterating on feedback to improve clarity and usability.

3. Research and Advocacy:

   • Applied existing research on target populations (seniors, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, etc.) to identify barriers and opportunities for service improvements.

   • Advocated for a phone application option for seniors based on insights from research. The initial approach involved clients using their My Service Canada Account (MSCA) for applications. However, research highlighted substantial difficulties in MSCA account registration for all users, and especially seniors. A phone application model was therefore adopted for Canadians aged 70 or older.

Personal Learnings:

• Enhanced skills in facilitating workshops in high-pressure environments.

• Expanded proficiency in depicting complexity through process mapping and service blueprinting.

• Developed expertise in crafting plain language information and instructional content for clients, enhancing user accessibility and comprehension.

Results:

While the project is ongoing, upon full launch, it is projected to extend coverage to approximately 9 million Canadians currently without dental insurance, addressing a significant gap in healthcare accessibility. As of May 1, 2024, the first one million seniors who successfully applied to the CDCP began receiving dental care.