D-tree International develops mobile applications to improve healthcare quality by supporting health workers. They have created applications for maternal health, child health, chronic diseases, and more that provide decision support and clear actions based on patient data. Lessons learned include that health workers adhere better to electronic protocols than traditional methods, but change management is needed and applications must be refined before deployment. Looking ahead, D-tree sees potential for mHealth to transform point-of-care healthcare and facilitate data use across health systems.

1. D REE
INTERNATIONAL
D-tree International
Using mobile phones to improve quality at
the point of care
Steve Ollis
sollis@d-tree.org
+255 783 346 070

2. D REE
INTERNATIONAL
D-tree background
• Vision - A world in which every person has access
to high quality healthcare
• Mission – To develop and support electronic
clinical protocols that enable health workers
worldwide to deliver high quality care
We build mobile applications to improve quality at
the point of care and to assist our partners in
monitoring and managing the work that is done
in remote locations

3. D REE
INTERNATIONAL
Applications developed to date
• Maternal Health
– Antenatal Care
– Postpartum Care
– Family Planning
– Active Management of Third Stage of Labor
• Child Health
– IMCI
– Neonatal IMCI
– Severe Acute Malnutrition
– Orphans and Vulnerable Children
• Chronic Disease
– Home Based Care for PLHA
– HIV Triage
– TB Screening

4. D REE
INTERNATIONAL
Decision support. Which data to collect…?

5. D REE
INTERNATIONAL …and clear actions based on data
Key Referral,
counseling
messages and
issues
highlighted

6. D REE
INTERNATIONAL
Lessons Learned
• Workers adhere to electronic protocols significantly
better than traditional methods
• mHealth is not a silver bullet
• Change management is required at all levels
• Biggest mistake – agreeing to let unrefined
applications be deployed in field before completing
field refinement stage

7. D REE
INTERNATIONAL
Looking ahead…
• Tremendous potential for mHealth and eHealth to
transform healthcare at point of care but also in
facilitating timely utilization of data at all levels of
health system
• Lead by example and continue to educate
community – push to integrate devices, applications
and data rather than waiting to be directed
• Can we use mHealth to build trust and improve
accountability in health systems?