RemHealth: Digitizing Health Journey

Uptake of child vaccinations and postpartum health during postnatal period contributes significantly to reduction of maternal and child mortality. Despite the significant impact of seeking healthcare during this period, less than 50% of women in Nigeria receive postnatal care(Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey,2013) and remains the highest contributor to global statistics on maternal and child deaths (World Bank and United Nations, 2015). The high burden of maternal and child mortality is partly attributed to inadequate use of postnatal health care services.

To address this gap, RemHealth an offline and online AI-enabled solution uses SMS, web, and software to provide mothers with maternal and child postnatal healthcare (e.g. vaccinations, postpartum care for mothers) reminders and tailored daily postnatal health care tips in their preferred languages(English, Pidgin English or the native languages). At scale, RemHealth has the potential to curb the growing burden of maternal and child mortality in resource-constrained settings. 

Nigeria has an estimated population of 150 million, of which 23% of the population are women of childbearing age, and 20% are children under five years (Nigeria Ministry of Health).According to the 2013 Nigerian Demographic Health Survey, Nigeria has a maternal mortality rate of 545 deaths per 100,000 live births, an infant mortality rate of 100 per 1000 live births, and an under-five mortality rate of 201 deaths per 1000 live births. In this context, nearly a quarter of a million babies and women of childbearing age die annually. This makes Nigeria the second-largest contributor to maternal and child mortality rates in the world (UNICEF).While a range of factors contributes to high maternal and child mortality and morbidity in Nigeria, limited uptake of postnatal healthcare services plays a significant role. Particularly low uptake of vaccinations and postpartum health care for the mothers in the areas of mental health, family planning, and physical health examinations. Our solution seeks to address this by working with health facilities to provide postnatal healthcare reminders and information to mothers, which aligns with the Federal Ministry of Health guidelines. This solution has potential to reach mothers across Nigeria and may be scaled to other low-middle-income countries.

Remhealth utilizes data management technology,reminder system, and supplychain management tools to provide life-saving, tailored information and services to mothers and health centres in Nigeria. It utilizes SMS, voice, and an app to capture and transfer these data to address the low uptake of postnatal care services. Our data management and reminder system closes the gap attributed to the absence of a centralized patient record system, digital child birth registration, vaccines and medical products supply chain system, and inconsistencies with data collection and utilization to make evidence-informed decisions to improve the quality of health.Remhealth utilizes advanced technology, such as AI and blockchain, to provide both online and offline modalities. The online modality leverages the widespread use of smart phones in Nigeria, whereas the offline accounts for individuals in areas with limited internet connectivity to provide life-saving information.Remhealth’s will allow health professionals to collect and utilize patient data, while also acting as a personal assistant for mothers—sharing life-saving postnatal care information, and reminding them of a child's immunization journey. By integrating our system with the existing national database, we are positioned to provide a sustainable means of improving the quality of data in Nigeria that inform policy and funding decisions for governments.

RemHealth serves mothers and newborn babies, by empowering the mothers through reminders to utilize services to promote maternal and child health outcomes.Postnatal period, the 6 weeks after childbirth, is a critical phase in the lives of mothers and their babies and sets the trajectory in the life course of the mother and child. Therefore, we serve mothers and children to utilize required postnatal health services to reduce maternal and child mortality and morbidity. The solution was developed based on the need to increase postnatal health service uptake as identified by the Nigerian Ministry of Health Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Strategic Plan.  We also seek to further tailor the solution to align with the unique needs of women in each region where the solution will be deployed. We also serve, hospitals tackling issues on both the supply side (particularly functional Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs), efficient logistic management system and supply chain for life-saving medicines and commodities) and demand-side (particularly for Family Planning, Antenatal Natal Care, Skilled Birth Attendants, and Hospital Delivery). We intend to work with health facilities and mothers to provide a holistic solution that adapts to existing health structures while meeting the needs of mothers and children.

Our solution strongly aligns with the maternal and newborn health dimension of the challenge.Specifically, we seek to promote access to postnatal healthcare services for mothers and newborns, decrease disease risk among newborns through vaccinations, and improve gynecological health through postpartum health service reminders and tips.These are critical to addressing the growing burden of maternal and child mortality and morbidity attributed to limited uptake of services Nigeria. Our solution utilizes technology to streamline the process of improving healthcare management and uptake of health services through reminders, thus reducing human errors, and saving the lives of many women and children in Nigeria.

Remhealth utilizes data management  technology, reminder system, and supply chain management tool to provide life-saving maternal and child information and services to mothers and health centres in Nigeria.  It utilizes  SMS, voice, and an app to capture and transfer these data to solve the devastating low quality of postnatal care available to African women. Our data management and reminder system closes the gap left by the absence of a centralized patient record system, digital child birth registration, and vaccines and medical products supply chain system, and giving healthcare workers the opportunity to collect and utilize this data in a seamless and efficient manner that improves the postnatal quality care provided to mothers. Remhealth adopts advanced technology such as AI and blockchain and combines it with low access points specific to the majority of Africans such as SMS, non-smart phones, areas with little to no internet connectivity. Our offline capability ensures that African in areas with little or no connectivity are not exempted from life-saving information.

The technology is powered by AI and blockchain. The application through artificial intelligence and machine learning send tailored reminder to postnatal health service uptake for mothers and children. This application empowers mothers to improve their health outcomes and that of their children. Remhealth’s application allows health professionals to capture, analyze, and communicate patient data, while also acting as a personal assistant for mothers—sharing life-saving postnatal care information, and reminding them of a child's immunization journey. It uses web, USSD, and an APP By integrating our system with the national database, we are positioned to improve the quality of data for states in Nigeria that inform policy and funding decisions for governments. Our goal is for hospitals around the country to utilize our solution to maternal and child health outcomes.

We have piloted the use of the technology in health facilities in Nigeria to promote the uptake vaccinations in rural areas. We have worked with Non-governmental organization and government agencies to reach the urban and underserved population, in terms of vaccination uptake in Nigeria. 

Before Remhealthm healthcentres in Nigeria use a book and patient file to capture patient details and monitor the postnatal care of mothers. This process is time consuming, leads to human error, and is exposed to risk of fire and loss of documents in hospitals. It can also be an inconvenient process for patients especially if they visit a different hospital from their primary facility. In emergency situations, the need for a digitized system could be the difference between life and death. RemHealth’s system helps hospitals quickly capture every patients information, stores it, and can be transmitted instantly to patients or doctors that may require it. So far during pilot, we have been able to reach 30 patients

Our solution comprises of 5 members 

Chisom Obiezu-Umeh

Ucheoma Nwaozuru

Oby Azubuike 

Tochukwu Egesi

Olumide Alonge

Three of our team members (Ucheoma Nwaozuru, Olumide Alonge, Chisom Obiezu-Umeh) have experience with health care management, health research and health care innovation in Nigeria. Members of our team were assisted with the implementation of the first health-centered designathon in Nigeria. We have experience with health care research and establishing relationships with key stakeholders to execute the goals of RemHealth.