Optum UX designer Meghan Correia highlights human-centered healthcare design

Meghan Correia, a senior lead UX designer at Optum in Massachusetts, is being recognized for creating healthcare technology that blends art, behavioral psychology, and empathy. Her work focuses on making tools clearer for clinicians and patients, while her community involvement and mentorship message underline the growing value of UX in healthcare.

Why it matters: - Meghan Correia’s work sits at the intersection of healthcare, design, and accessibility, where clearer digital tools can affect how clinicians work and how patients experience care. - Her approach underscores a broader shift in healthcare technology: products are judged not just on features, but on whether they are usable under pressure. - Correia’s recognition also highlights the role of women leaders in UX and healthcare design.

What happened: - Influential Women featured Meghan Correia, a Senior Lead UX Designer at Optum based in Bellingham, Massachusetts. - Correia specializes in healthcare and life sciences, with a focus on medical device design and human-centered digital experiences. - Her background includes training in studio art and behavioral psychology, plus UX education and certifications.

The details: - Correia began her career in interior design, moved into graphic design, and later shifted into UX. - Personal experience helping family members navigate the healthcare system influenced her decision to design tools that improve interactions with care environments and technology. - She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art with a minor in Behavioral Psychology from Framingham State University. - She completed UX Design training through General Assembly. - She also earned certifications in Leading and Managing Successful UX Teams and in Generative AI UX Design. - At Dräger, Correia contributed to the design of a transport patient monitor that supports continuous patient data flow. - The device is now used in hospitals around the world, helping clinical teams track patient information as patients move between care settings. - Correia says the project reflects how thoughtful design can support clinicians in demanding moments and support the patients they care for. - Her work style emphasizes persistence, determination, empathy, active listening, collaboration, and team building. - Correia says she has learned to notice what people leave unsaid and to treat curiosity and compassion as part of the design process. - She sees research and testing as essential tools alongside listening. - Her advice to young women entering UX is to stay open to unexpected opportunities, treat changes in direction as growth, and remain kind, curious, and adaptable. - Correia said the biggest challenge and opportunity in UX is showing the field’s real value beyond visual design. - She describes UX as research, problem-solving, collaboration, and repeated iteration, not just aesthetics.

Between the lines: - Correia’s career path shows how adjacent skills from art, psychology, and design can translate into healthcare UX. - Her focus on empathy reflects the reality that healthcare users are often under stress, which makes usability a functional requirement, not a nice-to-have. - The feature also frames UX as strategic work that can influence patient safety, clinician efficiency, and trust in digital health tools. - Her emphasis on behind-the-scenes UX work suggests the field still needs stronger internal buy-in inside organizations.

What's next: - Correia says she will keep pushing for research-driven design that connects technology, healthcare, and human needs. - She continues to support local and professional communities through the Bellingham Business Association, IxDF, and the UXPA Boston Chapter. - Outside of work, Correia is learning Korean. - More information is available through Meghan Correia’s Influential Women profile.

The bottom line: - Meghan Correia’s profile presents UX as a healthcare function with direct human impact, especially when design is grounded in empathy, listening, and rigorous testing.