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FrontlineSMS:Medic - SMS for Medical Records and Mobile Lab Diagnostics

Challenges Entered: 

Software Innovation

Our technological innovation revolves around modifying FrontlineSMS, an open-source, free SMS client, into a new open-source software package for healthcare applications in the developing world. This package, called FrontlineSMS:Medic, will perform three essential functions: 1) Patient-centric forms view in FrontlineSMS   2) Integration with open source medical records system OpenMRS   3) CellLab.

Patient View, a module within FrontlineSMS: We will develop a new user interface module within FrontlineSMS which will organize forms sent in from mobile phones, and create one screen where staff at a central computer can view all data relevant to an individual patient.   Clinicians will also be able to update and add new records from the central computer. This feature's simplicity is particularly important for small, grass roots clinics and NGOs.

OpenMRS Port: We are developing a software patch to allow patient information to flow from forms on mobile phones, to FrontlineSMS, to an enterprise medical records system called OpenMRs. OpenMRS is an open-source, free software package developed by Partners in Health and the Regenstrief Institute to implement electronic medical records in developing countries. Currently most CHWs must carry paper records long distances to data managers at central locations.   This patch through FrontlineSMS will vastly increase the access and usage of electronic medical records by community health workers, with correspondent health improvements.

Cell Lab: Using the source code of FrontlineSMS's forthcoming MMS release, we will develop a module called Cell Lab that supports the LUCAS cellular imaging technique currently being developed by the Ozcan lab at UCLA. LUCAS is a new imaging technique which allows intracellular "holograph" images of cells to be taken with simply the CCD chip ubiquitous in most cameraphones. These handsets cost as little as $10. Using this technique and the Cell Lab software, we will be able to dramatically reduce the cost of basic diagnostics such as Complete Blood Count, diagnosis of Malaria and TB, and CD4 T Lymphocyte count to under $1 per test. These diagnoses will be seamlessly integrated into the overall Electronic Medical Records system via integration with OpenMRS.

Implementation

(1) The current software build will be making an impact for many rural healthcare providers and their patients. (2) We will have strong community partners in a large number of countries to use for testing FrontlineSMS:Medic innovations, and (3) We are planning a large-scale randomized, controlled trial in Bangladesh to assess the impact of our mobile health technologies on health outcomes.

Project Details
Project url: 
http://medic.frontlineSMS.com
Project video: 
Supporting organization: 
FrontlineSMS/Kiwanja.net
Project Assessment
Financial support: 
No
Sustainability Model: 
FrontlineSMS:Medic is a nonprofit, cost-saving venture. In the first six months of our pilot in Malawi, over $3,000 were saved on fuel costs as well as 2,000 hours of travel and work time. The operating costs totalled only $250 per anum.   Over the next year, revolutionary diagnostics pioneered by LUCAS and FrontlineSMS:Medic will supplant $30,000 CD4 count machines running at $4 and 2 hours per test with inexpensive cell phones capable of remote diagnostics at a few cents per test- with automated results available at the point and time of care.   Because an investment in a small startup cost (airfare and accommodations for one of our implementers) yields significant long-term cost savings for rural healthcare facilities, organizations from all over the world have been approaching us with requests to implement FrontlineSMS:Medic.   Aside from startup costs, our expenses are minimal. We are also developing partnerships to provide in-kind donations of hardware; for example, we currently receive donated computer hardware from Cornell University. Our long-term goal is to be able to help clinics in underserved areas implement mobile health programs without charging them a fee. Implementers will simply click to download the software, apply for the hardware package, and get support and feedback from a Country Director from our organization.   Once we scale our operations, our goal is to have network providers subsidize the SMS costs. Even without subsidies, the costs of implementing FrontlineSMS:Medic will be greatly offset by fuel conservation, equipment savings, and increased productivity. After start up funding, the cost of updating and maintaining the software and providing technical support will be minimal because we will be open source and volunteer based.
Expertise needed: 
Technical Expertise: <p>Developers: </p><p>We now have 6 developers associated with the project in varying capacities (all volunteer). As psyched as we are about our current team, we&#39;d love to add a few more fingers to our keyboard<strong>.</strong> We are working in java. If you are a programmer, with a passion for our cause, we hope you will <a href="http://medic.frontlinesms.com/team/">contact us.</a> </p>
Other: If you work in health care, management, marketing, or are a talented techie of any type, with an enthusiasm for our cause, we&#39;d love to see what you can do. Please <a href="http://medic.frontlinesms.com/team/">contact us</a> regarding any questions, or to get involved.
Project goals: 
Spring 2007: Josh Nesbit, an undergraduate at Stanford University, meets Ken Banks.Summer 2008: Josh begins using FrontlineSMS at St. Gabriels Hospital in Namitete, Malawi.Summer 2008: Lucky Gunasekara is working as a researcher in mobile and web media for a consulting company in Tokyo, Japan. In his free time reads about mobile phone penetration in developing countries and begins to dream of connecting community health workers and patients to electronic health records via SMS on mobile phones.Early Fall 2008: Isaac Holeman plans to work with a friend at a clinic in East Africa after he graduates from Lewis and Clark the following May. Having no clinical training but some tech experience, he begins planning to integrate OpenMRS into mobile phones using SMS.November 2008: Dr. Wayne Centrone of Health Bridges International wants to set up a health records system at their clinic in Peru and contacts Daniel Bachhuber (who has more tech experience) to ask for help.Daniel and Isaac are friends; they randomly share their ideas and decide to join forces under the name MobilizeMRS and apply for the NetSquared USAID Development Challenge. Their proposal is to merge FrontlineSMS with OpenMRS. Their project becomes a finalist.Early 2009: Through a series of emails and phone calls, Josh, Daniel, and Isaac team up.Josh meets, by chance at lunch, Lucky, who now studies at Stanford Medical School. Lucky joins the team, and invites his friend Nadim Mahmud to join on and help develop a 500,000 patient mHealth impact study in Bangladesh for the summer of 2010.Lucky is selected as one of 10 featured announcements out of 700 student commitments at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative University. At CGIU, Lucky meets Ken Banks and pitches connecting FrontlineSMS, OpenMRS, and a revolutionary cell phone-based diagnostic technology, developed at UCLA. Ken agrees to formally give his support and former President Bill Clinton makes the announcement. February 23rd: They relaunch the venture as FrontlineSMS:Medic. The Medic team is currently beginning software development and already have firm implementation plans with over 15 partner clinics in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Identified Obstacles: 
At this point the future looks very bright. Currently our primary concern is finding financial support to cover our expenses for the next year. We also hope to identify additional developers who are interested in working on this open source project (see above).
Submitted by iholeman on March 17, 2010 - 5:20pm

"This is a great idea it

Submitted by LisaOlson on July 20, 2010 - 5:18am.

"This is a great idea it doesn't only saves time and energy but it also helps saves money. I like the idea that everything is now high-tech. Eevn clinical consultation can be evaluated and send through SMS.

This is a great way or advancement in medical technology. Hope to learn more of new strategis and new modern technologies that help patients in fast and cost-saving medical evaluation."

Lisa

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Submitted by AMISPROJECT on May 27, 2009 - 3:34pm.

 

Accept congratulations for your sweeping wins at the just ended Challenges.

We hope you give the Malawian populations the help they need through your improved MRS.

AMISPROJECT TEAM

Message of Hope

Submitted by markb on May 20, 2009 - 6:32am.

Great project! Glad to see FrontlineSMS is pushing into the medical field.

It's been incredible to watch what you've been able to achieve already with the launch of Hope Phones . Old phones DO save lives! Keep up the good work and let us know if Digital Democracy can help in any way.  

Re: Message of Hope

Submitted by Josh Nesbit (not verified) on May 22, 2009 - 2:25pm.

Thanks for the kind note, Mark. I'd love to chat about Handheld Health; shoot me a note at josh@medic.frontlinesms.com when you have a chance. Awesome work!

Best wishes,  

 Josh

Improving the societies

Submitted by martin on April 28, 2009 - 2:05am.

Improving the societies through these medium is a great idea.

We should work together.

Submitted by risraelkloss on March 25, 2009 - 3:01pm.

I hope you guys win. I would love to help you integrate Cell Alert with FrontlineSMS:Medic to really empower your tool at a whole new level of medical information dissemination.

We think our project (http://www.netsquared.org/projects/frontlinesms-alerts)  would empower your tool  to provide critcal international clinical trials  (http://cellalert.org/clinicaltrialalerts)  and medical supply alerts for  the worst  emergencies and even minor needs where you operate.  

We should  vote for each other! http://www.netsquared.org/projects/frontlinesms-alerts  

We should talk more. Shoot me an email to talk more about it.

Israel Kloss

Founder, Cell Alert

CellAlert.org

israel at cellalert dot org

Well done!

Submitted by hopefulist on March 24, 2009 - 8:13pm.

Good job, all - good luck!

Keep pushing this great idea...

Submitted by HannahR on April 10, 2009 - 9:03am.

Great project from a great group of guys! Best of luck in the competition!

-Hannah (GlobeMed)

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