Medic Mobile

Medic Mobile, formerly FrontlineSMS:Medic, is an non-profit organization that advances healthcare in the developing world. Using open source FrontlineSMS software and a suite of technological modules, Medic Mobile allows medical workers to use uses mobile phones to gather health data efficiently and assists them with patient follow-up, vaccine adherence, and appointment reminders. Their tools are currently used in fifteen countries, largely in sub-Saharan Africa.^[1]

Pilot Program In Malawi

In 2010, Medic Mobile completed an impact analysis of its pilot at St. Gabriel’s Hospital in rural Malawi. As a result of the project, the hospital now responds to requests for remote patient care, tracks distant patients, informs community health workers of proper drug dosages and uses, receives patient updates, connects HIV positive patients to support groups, and relays outreach HIV testing schedules.

In six months, the SMS program saved the hospital staff 1200 hours of follow-up time and over $3,000 in motorbike fuel. Nearly 1,400 patient updates were processed via SMS. Over 100 patients started [tuberculosis] treatment after their symptoms were noticed and reported by text message. The SMS network brought the Home-Based Care unit to the homes of 130 patients who would not have otherwise received care. Texting saved 21 antiretroviral therapy (ART) monitors 900 hours of travel time, eliminating the need to hand-deliver paper reports.^[2]

The Products

FrontlineSMS

FrontlineSMS is a free software program that allows users to text message with large groups of people anywhere there is a mobile signal. Using this software, a laptop plugged into a cell phone can become a low-cost communication hub. FrontlineSMS is soon to release a modules platform, similar to Wordpress, Firefox, or Facebook, so that external developers can create their own modules to extend the core feature set.^[3]

PatientView

In June 2010, the Medic Mobile team released a public Beta version of PatientView, which allows hospitals to manage patient information in rural settings where there is no internet access.^[4] The PatientView module creates a new user interface within FrontlineSMS – one screen where staff at a central computer can view all data relevant to an individual patient, such as future appointments, past communications, and health records. Health workers can search, sort through, update, and add new records from the central computer. Additionally, when a patient is due for an appointment, clinics can now use PatientView to find the community health worker responsible for that particular patient and send them a reminder via SMS that a visit is needed. The PatientView plugin is designed to manage patient information at small health centers, some of which will move on to a robust medical records system in the future, others of which will prefer to use FrontlineSMS to send data to a medical records system at the nearest large hospital. In keeping with Medic's principles, PatientView is free and open source.^[5]

CelloPhone

CelloPhone is a diagnostic tool currently being developed by Aydogan Ozcan at the University of California, Los Angeles that will be able to perform basic diagnostics such as Complete Blood Count, diagnosis of Malaria and TB, and CD4 T Lymphocyte count on the back of a camera cell phone, for under $1 per test.^[6] The device itself is expected to cost as little as $10. The device utilizes a new imaging technique called LUCAS, which circumvents a lens for magnification, instead taking intracellular “holograph” images of cells directly via the CCD chip ubiquitous in most camera phones. A pattern matching algorithm then analyzes cell morphology to automatically produce a diagnostic result. The diagnostic results will be communicated from the device to a central location using FrontlineSMS, and viewed with our Patient View module and/or sent to OpenMRS through the Medic medical records module.^[7]

1. ^ = "Tranforming Healthcare One Phone At A Time". London. http://www.healthcareitnews.com/blog/transforming-healthcare-one-phone-time =. 
2. ^ A Text Message Based Intervention. PMID 20495253. 
3. ^ "FrontlineSMS:Medic Product Tour". http://medic.frontlinesms.com/product-tour/. 
4. ^ "PatientView Beta is Here". http://medic.frontlinesms.com/2010/06/22/patientview-beta-is-here. 
5. ^ "FrontlineSMS Medic Vimeo about PatientView". http://vimeo.com/groups/smsmedic/videos/12736022. 
6. ^ Bulkley, Kate (2010-06-18). "Mobile messaging boosts healthcare". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/activate/mobile-messaging-boosts-healthcare. 
7. ^ "FrontlineSMS:Medic Product Tour". http://medic.frontlinesms.com/product-tour/.