Nambogo’s app connects patients to doctors

Nuriat Nambogo lost her pregnancy after failing to get a doctor on time. She had made numerous efforts to see her gynaecologist but the doctor either always had a long queue or was working at different facilities.
The appointments were fruitless until one day she was told her baby had died after finally getting access to a medical check-up. She regretted the ordeal and this pushed her to pursue a solution.
Nambogo mobilised a group of her peers to create MobiCare Application, a mobile based application that helps patients schedule appointments with health workers to avoid disappointments and long queues.
In Uganda, it is estimated the patient to doctor ratio is 1: 25,000 and it becomes worse when it comes to paediatricians and gynaecologists since they work part time in different health facilities. Nambogo says it is normal to find one doctor working in three facilities.

A group of seven people pitched the “MobiCare App” idea at the fourth annual Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) hackathon 2015 at Mbarara University during the outbreak of Ebola. She recalls, they wanted to see how to get suspected victims quickly to a health facility. “However, after the hackathon we expanded it to include the general community by targeting patients under emergency cases to benefit from the idea. We did not take the prize then but geared more efforts towards implementing the idea into action,” says Nambogo.

How it works
The App works if both parties (patient and doctor) have downloaded it. “The patient selects any region, then district, a health facility, and then a drop-down tool pops up with categories on different specialties and a list of medical workers. One can make a direct call or send a message to schedule an appointment. Doctors are notified in cases they don’t respond to missed calls or messages,” she explains.
Doctors’ schedules are also availed; the app shows if a certain doctor has an appointment with another patient on specific days at different facilities.
The app process involves registering private health facilities, willing doctors and people. Uganda National Council for Science and Technology has since approved MobiCare to do the feasibility and acceptability study. The team wants to be sure of what they are doing before releasing the app on the market since the journey has been long.
“Currently the app is internet based albeit once one has entered the details, they are synchronised. Therefore, once the hospital and health worker are signed up, they may not need internet,” she shares.

Achievements
In 2017, the team won the CAMTech Accelerator Award and a seed grant of Shs30m which helped coordinate project work. CAMTech is a global network of academic, clinical, corporate and implementation partners working to accelerate high quality affordable medical technology development.
The money helped them facilitate feasibility and acceptability studies in private hospitals in Mbarara to build and test the innovation. The application is now working under a pilot study with five private hospitals and 192 selected individuals who go to private facilities. Nambogo acknowledges that they have invested time and have roughly used a total estimate of $13,000 up to date.
On June 26, 2019, the team won Shs100m under the National ICT initiative support programme award fund from Ministry of Information of ICT and National Guidance. Although the funds have not been released yet, processes are underway to transfer funds. The team believes the money will help them upgrade the App. Due to the difference in sociocultural response around healthcare issues in Kampala, they want to extend the study to Kampala to test the deep waters.

Benefits of the app
MobiCare bridges gaps between the patients and medical professionals by facilitating direct communication. It showcases some partnered insurance companies, enabling one under insurance to access health services. Nambogo adds, the app helps growing specialists to also be known in their areas of expertise. Also, the public is able to rate or give reviews according to their service delivery, which other patients can refer to accordingly.

Challenges
“Managing a team is not easy; some people quickly look at the monetary benefits but we have tried to fight the vice by focusing and emphasising on a bigger picture,” Nambogo says, adding, “Internet connectivity is also a problem. Also, the development processes took long since there were gradual changes along the way that included the design issues, icons and different interfaces to guide the developer in the process.”
Data Santorino, country manager at CAMTech Uganda explains, the rate at which the world is developing, one cannot afford to do things the way they have done in former generations. Institutions of higher education need to change and be able to train people to think creatively and adjust their curriculum to match with the changing trends.
“And there is no better way of exposing students to entrepreneurship and innovation for them to create that dynamic mind-set,” he notes.