We will develop software that enables health workers to utilize electronic medical records [EMR] remotely via SMS. We will use SIM-based mobile phones, and implement the project at clinics that serve more than 65,000 people in Peru and Burundi.
Mobilizing the medical record is a high impact opportunity, EMR adoption has direct and well documented health impact. However, EMRs are rarely implemented successfully in poor areas because of hardware that is expensive, unfamiliar, or unavailable locally, lack of internet and hassles associated with data re-entry. These issues can be address by SIM based phones.
Our goal is to produce software that can:
The greatest barrier to implementing distributed medical records is adapting organizational practices, not building software. Our development efforts will be put into action because our project was initiated and is being carried out by organizations that provide health care for the poor.
Health Bridges International has helped to develop and operate a clinic and community health care delivery program in the impoverished peri-urban communities of Alto Cayma, Peru. The clinic consists of full time medical, dental, nursing, pharmacy and health education staffing. In addition, the clinic has outreach workers who act as advocates in the communities (35k people total) to help identify the most marginalized populations and connect them to services.
Village Health Works is dedicated to the principle that all people, including the most oppressed and impoverished, are entitled to the highest standards of health care in their pursuit of happy and productive lives. VHW’s first project is to design, build, and operate a model community health clinic in Kigutu, Burundi. VHW serves about 30k people, regardless of ability to pay.
The primary directors of the project are two students, Isaac Holeman, a co-founder of Squarepeg, a N2Y3 featured project to help people find service and action opportunities on the Internet, and Daniel Bachhuber, the founder of Oregon Direct Action, an organization at the University of Oregon that is developing an open source organizational model for student groups.
Additional tech development help would be quite nice!
This project requires only minimal seed funding to get off the ground. Once it is functional, it will be supported by the organizations that use it. These include health care organizations like Village Health Works and Health Bridges International, and open source communities like OpenMRS and OpenROSA.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
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Comments
@MobilizeMRS on Twitter
Hi All,
Project updates.
1. We finished playing the name game. We're going with MobilizeMRS for this project.
2. Working on getting a site up. In the mean time, follow us on twitter! @MobilizeMRS.
3. Wonderful partnerships coming together. We're excited to work with the fine people at FrontlineSMS, among others.
cheers
Isaac
Conference call re: buildingn partnerships, upcoming interview
Hi All,
Our project is very young and we do not have a website yet, so we thought we would keep you up to date on our progress by posting comments to this profile. Being transparent and inviting collaboration is pretty important to us.
So, Daniel and I (Isaac Holeman) just had a conference call discussing our project. We were talking about continuing to build partnerships that will make our work more effective. In particular, we are staying in touch with people who have contacted us from OpenMRS.org and FrontlineSMS.com.
We are also trying to figure out if/when we will be interviewed by USAID. Daniel leaves for Haiti on the 26th, that is soon! Ideally we would like to do our interview before that. Looks like we need to email Amy about that.
As always, please contact me if you are interested in becoming a part of this project.
cheers
Isaac
Thanks for Voting! Contact us if you're interested.
Hi Everyone,
We just wanted to say thank you so much for voting everyone! We are very excited that so many voters expressed interest in our work. This is a new project and we are still forming our team and the partnerships that will make our work more effective, so if you are interested in joining us or learning more, please do not hesitate to contact me at isaac dot holeman at gmail dot com.
Thanks again!
cheers
Isaac
Great project
(Columbia University Mobile Technology Team)
Hi! We find your project very useful and interesting. Indeed lack of access to comunication is a great issue in poor areas and any effort in this direction will yeld great results. We would be interested to learn more from you, our project also trys to speed health and nutrition information, for faster response. We would appreciate any feedback.
Wow
This project looks really awesome. It is innovative, low-cost and pratical. I am very impressed!
Great idea
I've read several places recently how critical delivery models are where medical care is concerned in high poverty areas. The medical research and sometimes even money are in place but the information and medicine often don't reach the people of highest need. This sounds like something that would help make the routines and delivery efficient enough that more people could enjoy appropriate health care.
Happy trails!
Hopefulist
A great partnership
Hey Daniel,
This looks great, and I'm excited to work with you on this. One of the really exciting parts of it that this proposal doesn't capture is how easy it's been to find people who want to work with us on this. You and I found just coincedentally that we were working on basically the same project, and since then other developers have just sort of fallen into place. Looks like we aren't the only ones who the the medical record, and specifically OpenMRS is an important place to go mobile.
cheers
Isaac
I agree
Dude, I totally agree. Hopefully this application will get us the exposure we need to connect with those who have similar ideas and want to collaborate. Plus, I think our idea of an intelligent "command center" for the information going in and out of OpenMRS, especially when the medical records are distributed amongst multiple clinics, is really cool.
Mobile EMR
Hi Daniel and Isaac
congrats on thinking up the great project. I think it is the need of the hour. we have developed a web based app for viewing patient data on the move and would love to explore the possibilities of working together. also we can help you roll out the same in Indiaif you are interested. we are in the field of transcription and claims processing for the last 8 years.check us out at www.acris.co.in
Being hungry, being stripped
Being hungry, being stripped off with the right to have their own home, being sick and not being able to see a doctor is very hard to imagine. "Slumdog Millionaire", an international smash hit and winner of Best Picture at the Academy Awards, is inspirational, to say the least. It has called attention to the terrible poverty that people in other countries experience. Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Ali, two child actors featured in Slumdog Millionaire, are both to be moved to new homes with their families. The Indian government has agreed to pick up the check, citing that the film, and the two diminutive thespians, has made their country proud. The kids featured in Slumdog Millionaire are both residents of India's slums.