The Journal of mHealth Vol 2 Issue 2 (Apr 2015) | Page 32

Nursing Study Finds Mobile App with Evidence-based Decision Support
Continued from page 29

petition where teams of students had to address different
health challenges. SimPrints won the competition and Toby
Norman formed a development team which sought funding through various grant initiatives. Last year the team won
funding of $250,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Saving Lives at Birth competition and $180,000
from Cambridge-based ARM Ltd, whose technology is
incorporated in over 95% of all the world's mobile phones.
Toby Norman, who is doing a PhD in Management Studies,
said: "Despite the incredible potential of mobile health to
improve lives, accurately linking a patient to their health records
has proved a critical stumbling block in too many projects. This
technology can ensure that even the poorest have the right to an
identity within health systems."
Biometric identification has significant implications in other
health related areas.
An overwhelming body of evidence shows that immunizations are one of the most successful and cost-effective health
interventions ever known. Yet still in the developing world 1.5
million children die of vaccine preventable diseases every year,
accounting for 17% of deaths in children under 5 years old
(UNICEF 2014).

With the support of the Gates Foundation, pioneers like VaxTrac are developing biometric vaccine registries to ensure the
right child receives the right vaccination on time. Yet commercially available scanners are poorly designed for these contexts
in terms of accuracy, robustness, and proprietary software. SimPrint hope that by developing better hardware and open software then this will have the potential to save lives.
Similarly, biometric identification scanners can be used to help
reduce problems in pregnancy and improve maternity services
in countries with limited access to health records. The perinatal
period is fraught with risks for both mother and child, accounting
for over 70% of preventable maternal and neonatal deaths annually in developing countries (Ahman & Zupan 2007). Many of
these deaths can be prevented by timely visits from community
health workers. The World Health Organization recommends a
minimum of four check-ups before birth, however only 39% of
all mothers are receiving these visits due to challenges in identification and accountability (Dieleman & Harnmeijer 2006).
Biometrics provide a powerful tool to identify patients in these
settings, instantly finding the right patient record in mHealth
systems with the touch of a finger. They also empower managers with new tools to monitor and support health worker visits.
For more information visit www.simprints.com n

Nursing Study Finds Mobile App
with Evidence-based Decision
Support Helps Diagnose Obesity,
Smoking, and Depression
Nurses who use a mobile application with evidence-based decision support tools are significantly more likely to diagnose depression, weight issues and tobacco use than nurses not using such
tools, according to a recent study published in the Journal for
Nurse Practi ѥ