TVSF Phase 1: Improved Health Outcomes of Populations through Engagement (I-Hope) Community Services: A Community health worker mobile productivity application

The I-Hope Community Health Worker Productive Application is a product package which consists of a hardware device (iPad) and application software (I-Hope mobile App) ready to run out of box with a companion website for administration of the database and reporting modules. This package was developed to meet the documentation needs of the community health workers who do not have access to traditional medical records.

The product is institution independent and can be used to collect demographic, healthcare, socio-economic, chronic disease management, and treatment data in the community setting. The package uses a local cache to store information if there is no internet connection, then upload to the datacenter when a connection has been reestablished. The base platform and one clinical module for the Foot Clinic have been designed and functionally tested. The system intelligently processes information entered (such as vital signs and medical history) and generates flags for community services referrals, educational needs and further healthcare assessment by licensed healthcare workers. A companion web portal allows for additional provider notes, data queries and various administrative functions.

The data points in the mobile app are modeled after the community health worker scope of practice, but custom modules can be added to meet any population data collection needs. Future versions will incorporate data from wireless, off-the-shelf healthcare monitoring devices such as the STEADY® falls assessment system, Bluetooth blood pressure cuffs, glucose monitors and thermometers. While there are other data collection systems available, most require expensive licenses or institutional affiliations. Other systems do not provide image capture of foot wounds and digital image overlay to record source of data problems with feet. This software also tracks referrals and follow up to referrals.

The team desires to create an Ohio Startup company based on the successful validation and development of the project using the TecK fund award. The team is currently working with experts from BioEnterprise to facilitate business formation and generate interest in capital financing. A provisional patent application will be filed in October 2019 to protect the core IP. The team has strong affiliations with community leaders that are interested in the data to be collected including county health departments, local hospital systems, CDC, Care Source (Ohio Medicaid Provider) and insurance companies