eHIP - the eHealth & Intervention Platform

Inventors from the University of Arizona Bio Computing Facility have developed eHIP (eHealth & Intervention Platform), an adaptable “software as a service” platform that serves to provide researchers and healthcare professionals with a framework for building web and mobile device-oriented research projects or interventions. Included in this platform are communication features (including text, voice, and video messaging systems), data collection, and web-based forms. These features can be modified, or built from scratch, to suit the specific needs of any project.

This technology is being used to collect information about the spread of COVID-19 in Pima County, Arizona through the AZCOVIDTXT program and at the University of Arizona through the Wildcat Wellcheck program.

Background:
Mobile Health (mHealth), the practice of public health and medicine supported by web and mobile devices, is expected to reach record industry highs by 2017. With 4.4 billion people worldwide owning mobile phones, there is a tremendous opportunity to utilize mobile devices to deliver healthcare solutions, conduct studies, and provide interventions while enhancing the mHealth marketplace. Researchers within the Bio Computing Facility at the University of Arizona were prompted to develop this platform by the organization’s collaborations with entities in the public health, nutrition, psychiatry, nursing, pharmacy, and medical fields.

Applications:

• Public health
• Healthcare providers
• Research
• Other data-oriented projects

Advantages:

• Proven successful in developing research and intervention tools that involve the web or mobile devices, including numerous national and multi-site studies
• Encompasses the entirety of the online functionality required by a given project, from consulting and software development to deployment, data analysis, and archival
• Modular in nature
• Includes many features such as data collection, data analysis, and intervention delivery
• Users can include as few or as many features as they desire 
• Gathers data in real-time from relevant populations, which is then immediately available for a client's use
• Includes advanced security features to ensure that eHIP is IRB and HIPAA-friendly
• Increases efficiency by migrating services to an easy-to-use, secure online platform
• Reduces time investment for researchers and/or subjects by employing mobile technology
• Able to collect seemingly all types of data for analysis and subsequent communication

COVID, COVID-19, COVID19, Coronavirus