MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

ScreenDoor

One-line solution summary:

We provide resource that enables efficient utilisation of the scarce resources + quick identification of potential cases and diseases.

Pitch your solution.

Inefficient referral health systems lead to poor utilization of health resources, unsustainable lockdowns, widespread misinformation and ineffective control of the pandemic.

We are building a system for health data collection and analysis to determine which cases require certain medical resources. Our innovation comprises four means for data collection namely SMS, Calls, Application (Android/iOS) and a website. A questionnaire will be used for self-reporting user information, symptoms and potential exposure to COVID-19. It also has an inbuilt system for collecting health vitals such as heart rate, breathing rate and oxygen saturation using the camera - with options to use external medical devices.

We are building a holistic information and communication ecosystem that will improve the referrals in health systems for efficient utilization of medical resources. Increased coverage of primary health care for at risk MNCH patients during COVID-19 Improved quality of primary health care during COVID-19 and after.

Film your elevator pitch.

What specific problem are you solving?

In the absence of systematic, widespread decentralised COVID19 triaging facilities and the incapacitation of the referral centres weakens rural based patient tracking efforts. The most compelling and compulsory collective action would be to prevent further infection through observing the stay at home order and social distancing issued by the government. However, the results of this directive and its prohibitions are devastating if not accompanied by proper support in rural communities, which are marginalised, poor, vulnerable and at high risk. Life situations makes the adoption of the recommendations, such as social distance, limiting movements, self-isolation, quarantining and purchasing of personal protective equipment difficult.

Rural communities by their virtue of being adjacent to urban settlements are much more exposed to COVID 19 virus yet they are ill-equipped and inadequately informed to mitigate any of the challenges that come with COVID 19. Containment of COVID-19 in rural areas is of great national importance, as a rapid spread of COVID-19 from such hot spots is likely to overwhelm the already ill-equipped and ill-prepared health care system of the country and create a complex crisis of high magnitude. Lack of an existing easy to use locally grown solution places stress on current national mitigation efforts.

What is your solution?

We are building a system for health data collection and analysis to determine which cases require certain medical resources. We have termed this system ScreenDoor, it comprises four means for data collection namely SMS, Calls, Application (Android/iOS) and a website.

It also has an inbuilt system for collecting health vitals such as heart rate, breathing rate and oxygen saturation using the camera - with options to use external medical devices. The amalgamation of all of this data will be analyzed by statistical tools to determine the probability of infection by COVID-19, as well as the severity of infection.

Through longitudinal monitoring of health vitals, this tool has the potential to detect infections in the preclinical phase (asymptomatic infections - through cross validation among the metrics collected. By using hyperlocal positioning in the form of Bluetooth proximity (signal strength from nearby devices running the application), we are able to enhance our probabilistic detection with contact tracing - stretch goal, geolocation through GPS more readily applicable. This system will works as a point of care diagnostic tool (informed consent, symptom triaging, vital sign acquisition using visible light) and a voice calling system that similarly triages patients for a less resource rich deployment.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

The target beneficiaries are individuals, grassroots level health cadres and key community influencers which consists of

Health care workers (Nurses, Doctors, EHTs, midwives and pharmacists)
Community health workers and Community based volunteers
Key influencers such as village heads, religious leaders and school teachers

Target Areas characterized by their inability to observe proper WASH and Hygiene due to limited access to clean water and soap. Areas that are susceptible to high infection rates of COVID19 with overburdened public healthcare systems and disconnect with larger national health systems. The decentralized triage application will aim to build linkages between grassroots/community and national health systems to track infection rates as well as strengthen referral systems.

Despite the primary targets being health care workers and volunteers, the whole system proposed will generate benefits for the population at large. It will cover aspects of patient tracing, patient registry, providing referral health systems, control/containment of spread of infection by identifying at risk locations and combating/controlling of the virus.

Explain how the problem, your solution, and your solution’s target population relate to the Challenge.

Most low resourced communities in Zambia have few hospitals per capita, healthcare workers, medical supplies and other necessary resources. Available tools at the moment are designed to work effectively in high income communities. Our solution is designed to work efficiently in both low-medium and high income communities, and has the potential to detect COVID-19 cases in the preclinical phase, averting most of the infections that are currently resulting from asymptomatic transmissions - primary mode of transmission.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Lusaka, Zambia

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model

Who is the primary delegate for your solution?

Co-Founder and CEO

More About Your Solution

About Your Team

Your Business Model & Funding

What is your business model?

Our business model will be B2B2C through subscription. and for us solution to function at optimal capacity and deliver the envisioned value addition, it is incumbent that it collaborates with seasoned players who are active in the healthcare and pharmaceutical domain in the country. Through collaborative

partnerships, ScreenDoor will be able to acquire essential reliable data to feed into its platform and transform them to useful output
for use by other parties.

ScreenDoor app will be downloadable and can be accessed by anyone with a smartphone, iPad, computer etc. In this way it will be as far reaching as this technology is available within Zambia. We therefore expect the following impact:

• Reduction in risk of spreading COVID-19 and other diseases (especially amongst the vulnerable population of women, children and the elderly)

• Decrease in risk of collapse of Zambian health systems that is already fragile

• Protection of health professionals and patients

• Improved and easier access to healthcare

• Decreased public anxiety, misinformation and unsafe alternative medicine use.

•Increased compliance with social distancing directives

Our target population is therefore the general public with access to this, people with disabilities who may not be able to travel to the physical clinics, as well as healthcare providers and health institutions who will be able to use this app for telemedicine and referral.

Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, or to other organizations?

Individual consumers or stakeholders (B2C)

What is your path to financial sustainability?

Data for Hospitals
This will be the lifeblood of ScreenDoor since it is where all the health data for patients will originate from. The primary benefit to the clinic will be the convenience of capturing, organizing and storing medical
records. This will facilitate ease of retrieving a particular patient’s medical file for future reference of the medical history.
There are many clinics and hospitals which struggle with proper organization, storage and subsequent retrieval of patient health data, we will take this burden away by offering a secure platform to facilitate this at an
affordable cost.