Smartphone app to monitor individuals who may have come into contact with Ebola virus
BALTIMORE, MD. (March 19, 2015)
emocha Mobile Health has implemented its Ebola Symptoms Monitoring smartphone and web application for use by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). After a one-month pilot phase, the system is now being used to monitor individuals who have returned from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa. Public health officials will use the app to conduct active and direct-active monitoring of people traveling from affected west-African countries, including certain health care workers, for 21-days, as per CDC guidelines. The application was developed in close collaboration with public health officials at DHMH.
Travelers and healthcare workers use a smartphone to securely report their temperature, as well as the presence of any symptoms or travel plans, twice daily. The Maryland DHMH accesses the data on a web-interface that visualizes critical data from individuals or risk-stratified groups of individuals. In addition, specific reported symptoms such as a fever or nausea trigger SMS and email alerts to health officials for quick, appropriate action.
Maryland’s close proximity to Dulles International Airport, one of the five national airports receiving travelers from countries most affected by Ebola, makes the need for the outbreak symptoms monitoring application even greater.
“The response to the Ebola crisis is incredibly resource intensive for health departments. Ebola Symptoms Monitoring [ESM] allows them to manage the response without needing to reach the traveler directly and allowing the travelers to report on their own schedules,” says emocha CEO Sebastian Seiguer: “Our remote patient management platform tools are designed and engineered to help monitor individuals who are outside of a clinic or hospital.”
Now that the application is live, the next step is integration between emocha and Maryland’s Active Monitoring Database. The integration will allow data gathered by emocha to be reported to State health officials and the CDC. It will also allow for pre-enrollment of travelers and healthcare workers into the emocha application. emocha co-developed the application with electronic medical record (EMR) integration specialist Analytical Informatics, a Maryland-based company. Analytical’s EMR integration software, AI Bridge, will be used to integrate mobile data with Maryland’s clinical database.
emocha is a mobile health platform that supports a wide range of applications for remote patient management. Clinicians and researchers use the platform for mobile data collection, education, and communication. Additionally, a web interface provides real-time data visualization and analytics. emocha has been implemented in more than ten countries across four continents.
About emocha Mobile Health
emocha empowers every patient to take every dose of medication through video technology and scalable human engagement. Patients use a smartphone application to video record themselves taking their medication. Providers or emocha Adherence Coaches use a secure web portal to assess adherence and engage with patients. The platform is being used by public health departments, clinical trials, hospitals, health centers, and managed care organizations to radically improve medication adherence for patients with tuberculosis, opioid use disorder, hepatitis C, diabetes, and other chronic and infectious diseases. Learn more at www.emocha.com.
National Institutes of Health Statement
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute On Minority Health And Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R43MD010521. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Contact: Michelle Mendes| email: mmendes@emocha.com | phone: 410.928.4016
