eConvivial_CPN

The importance of prenatal consultation (CPN) to prevent complications of pregnancy and childbirth and postnatal consultation (CPoN) in ensuring better monitoring of the mother and her baby is no longer to disassemble. However, it is clear that on average, in the Togolese context where approximately 3 women die every day following complications of pregnancy, childbirth or in the immediate aftermath of childbirth (i.e. 401 deaths per 100 000 live births). In addition, the utilization rates of pre- and postnatal consultations still remain low. They are 35% for CPN4. Barriers to the use of these services range from lack of awareness of their importance to other factors, such as an absence of active mechanisms for monitoring beneficiaries by providers; searches for those lost to follow-up are rarely carried out. Nowadays, in the age of innovation, the managers of these programs will not be wrong to think of setting up computerized, automated communication programs which will allow beneficiaries to be reminded of consultation appointments and to interact with service providers as needed, to improve the rate of use of these services.

The eCPN application is an innovative solution based on digitalization aimed at improving the quality of information and care services for pregnant women, mothers, and children in crisis situations in Togo. It is available in both web and mobile versions.

The application offers the following services:

1. Pregnancy Monitoring (ANC/PNC): This system involves pre-registering pregnant women within a healthcare facility, typically managed by a midwife. After registration, pregnant women receive SMS notifications and a reminder phone call 48 hours before each prenatal care appointment. This monitoring continues after the woman gives birth, aiming to encourage regular participation in prenatal care and ensure postnatal follow-up using remote communication means.

2. ANC Card: This is a digitalization of the printed prenatal care (ANC) follow-up booklet. Equipped with NFC technology, this card contains the pregnant woman's care data and is accessible by both the healthcare provider, usually a midwife, and the pregnant woman herself. Information can be accessed using an NFC card reader or an SR code followed by a security code, facilitating quick access to data even offline.

3. Practical Advice: These are modules developed to help pregnant women manage common pregnancy discomforts. They provide practical tips and address topics such as nausea, excessive salivation, constipation, heavy legs, back pain, and heartburn.

4. Green Line: To address the concerns of pregnant women or mother-child couples, the application offers a toll-free assistance line accessible via a short number, 8203. This feature allows beneficiaries to connect with tele-counselors who provide advice and information, offering personalized support to application users.

5. Patient Management: Reserved exclusively for healthcare providers, the patient management module facilitates daily provider tracking. It allows them to view the list of pregnant women awaiting appointments for the day, week, or month. Through this module, providers can also view the list of lost contacts and quickly follow up with those who have not responded to an appointment.

6. Patient Transfer: This feature enables a healthcare facility to transfer a pregnant woman's medical records to another facility for various reasons. The woman's file is automatically transferred to the desired site, followed by a transfer alert to the relevant healthcare facility.

Our solution primarily targets pregnant women, mothers, newborns, and healthcare providers involved in prenatal and postnatal consultations. For pregnant women and mothers, our eConvivial_CPN application offers personalized monitoring of their pregnancy, with automatic reminders for appointments and vaccinations, practical advice for managing common discomforts, and quick access to their medical data via the dematerialized ANC card. This proactive approach contributes to improving their health and that of their baby by ensuring regular follow-up and facilitating access to appropriate care.

For healthcare providers, eConvivial_CPN simplifies consultation management by providing tools to schedule and track appointments, detect lost contacts, and ensure effective patient follow-up. This allows them to optimize their time and resources while providing better service to pregnant women and mothers. Additionally, eConvivial_CPN promotes seamless communication among various stakeholders in maternal and child health, strengthening care coordination and enabling more comprehensive and efficient patient management.

In summary, eConvivial_CPN aims to transform how pregnant women and mothers access healthcare and how healthcare providers deliver it. By combining digital technology with best practices in maternal and child healthcare, we seek to improve health outcomes, reduce disparities in access to care, and strengthen the healthcare system as a whole.

Our team, comprised of seasoned experts in software development, maternal and child health, as well as project management, embodies a true guarantee of success for proposing this innovative solution. Leveraging our proven experience in designing and implementing digital solutions in the healthcare domain, we have demonstrated time and again our ability to create effective applications tailored to the specific needs of users. This capability earned us the 2020 eHealth Observatory in Southern Countries (ODESS) Prize awarded by the Pierre Fabre Foundation and the 2021 Medical Innovation Prize awarded by the Junior Chamber International (JCI). With our track record of successful projects and multidisciplinary expertise, we are confident in our ability to make a significant contribution to this project and have a tangible impact on the lives of beneficiaries.

Our commitment to innovation and our ability to anticipate and address challenges encountered in the field are major assets that set us apart. By working closely with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders, we have gained a deep understanding of the specific needs and challenges in this domain. This experience enables us to approach every aspect of the project with rigor and creativity, ensuring that our solution is not only functional but also perfectly tailored to the local context and the needs of end users.

Finally, our team is motivated by a shared passion for improving maternal and child health services, and an unwavering determination to make a positive difference in the lives of pregnant women, mothers, and newborns. We firmly believe that our commitment, expertise, and determination will enable us to successfully achieve the ambitious goals of this project and bring about lasting and meaningful changes in the communities we serve.

The mobile application eConvivial_CPN aims to support the implementation of a digital system for tracking women in prenatal (CPN) and postnatal (CPoN) consultations in SONU basic maternity facilities in Togo. During its successful pilot phase, it was deployed in seven SONU basic public health facilities in the Maritime region, and 37 healthcare providers (midwives, hygiene assistants, health facility managers, administrators of the Mother and Child Health Division, and community health workers) were trained in its use. The application enabled the tracking of 994 pregnant women for CPN, 374 women post-delivery for CPoN, and 488 newborns for vaccination. It also facilitated the detection of lost follow-ups by healthcare providers, using data analysis and tracking functions, enabling them to recall them for subsequent consultations, as well as forecasting the number of expected consultations for the day. Additionally, the use of eConvivial_CPN resulted in a 30% increase in CPN visitation rates compared to traditional methods. Importantly, eCPN receives active support from the Ministry of Health through the Directorate of Maternal and Child Health (DSME). Its relevance lies mainly in the fact that it is a solution requested by the Ministry of Health and implemented in public health facilities. Its implementation was financially supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

We are applying to Solve because we firmly believe in the organization's mission to address the world's most pressing challenges through innovation and collaboration. Our team is confident that our solution, eConvivial_CPN, has the potential to make a real difference in the field of maternal and child health, especially in regions where access to healthcare is limited. However, we are aware of the financial, technical, and cultural challenges we face in scaling our solution.

Financially, we need support to invest in the ongoing technological development of our application and to expand our reach and impact to new regions. Additionally, we need support to strengthen our organizational and operational capacities to ensure effective and sustainable implementation of our solution. Technically, we are seeking partners who can help us enhance and optimize our platform by integrating new features and ensuring its compatibility with existing healthcare systems. Culturally, we wish to collaborate with partners who understand local realities and can assist us in adapting our solution to the specific needs and contexts of each community we serve.

In summary, we hope that through Solve, potential partners who share our vision and commitment to improving maternal and child health worldwide will take an interest in our solution. We are confident that, through this collaboration, we can achieve our goals and have a lasting impact on the lives of pregnant women, mothers, and newborns in the most vulnerable communities.

Our solution, eConvivial_CPN, stands out for its innovative approach that integrates digital technology to improve access to maternal and child healthcare in underserved regions. Unlike traditional methods, which can be hindered by obstacles such as lack of healthcare infrastructure and qualified human resources, eConvivial_CPN leverages smartphones and connectivity to provide pregnancy monitoring and vaccination services directly to pregnant women and healthcare providers, wherever they may be. This innovative approach overcomes geographical and time barriers, thus providing continuous access to healthcare, even in the most remote areas.

By adopting a user-centric approach, eConvivial_CPN is designed to be user-friendly and accessible to all, regardless of education level or technological proficiency. Through its intuitive interface and personalized features, such as appointment reminders and practical advice, eCPN aims to empower pregnant women and healthcare providers by providing them with the information and tools necessary to make informed decisions about their health. This empowerment-focused approach can catalyze broader positive impacts by promoting widespread adoption of high-quality prenatal and postnatal care practices, potentially reducing maternal and infant mortality rates and improving long-term health outcomes for mothers and children.

By transforming the landscape of maternal and child healthcare, eConvivial_CPN could play a crucial role in promoting the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, especially in contexts where resources are limited and healthcare infrastructure is underdeveloped. By providing an accessible and effective technological solution, eConvivial_CPN can help bridge gaps in existing healthcare systems, thereby strengthening the resilience of communities and healthcare systems as a whole. Additionally, by demonstrating the positive and measurable impact of our solution, we hope to inspire other stakeholders in the healthcare sector to invest in similar initiatives, paving the way for broader transformation of the sector and improved health outcomes for all.

Our solution, eConvivial_CPN, aims to address the problem of limited access to maternal and child healthcare by using digital technology to provide pregnancy monitoring and vaccination services effectively and accessibly. By directly connecting pregnant women and healthcare providers via smartphones, eConvivial_CPN facilitates appointment scheduling for prenatal care and sends reminders for consultations, thereby helping to reduce loss to follow-up rates and promote regular participation in healthcare. Additionally, by providing personalized practical advice and offering easy access to health data via a digitalized CPN card, eConvivial_CPN empowers pregnant women and strengthens the skills of healthcare providers, thereby improving the quality of care and maternal and child health outcomes. Through this user-centered approach and the use of accessible technologies, we anticipate that eConvivial_CPN will have a significant impact by increasing adherence to prenatal and postnatal care, reducing pregnancy and childbirth-related complications, and contributing to the reduction of maternal and child mortality in underserved communities. This theory of change is supported by existing research on the effectiveness of digital interventions in maternal and child health, as well as by the positive outcomes observed during the pilot phase of eConvivial_CPN in basic maternity facilities in Togo.

Impact Objectives:

Reduce Maternal and Infant Mortality: Our primary goal is to contribute to reducing maternal and infant mortality rates by ensuring cumulative access to maternal and child healthcare. We aim to reduce pregnancy and childbirth-related complications by ensuring regular monitoring of pregnant women and facilitating access to practical advice and appropriate medical care.

Improve Adherence to Prenatal and Postnatal Care: We seek to increase adherence to prenatal and postnatal care by facilitating appointment scheduling and sending reminders to pregnant women. Our goal is to increase the number of women receiving regular prenatal care throughout their pregnancy and postnatal care after childbirth.

Empower Pregnant Women: We aspire to empower pregnant women by providing them with information and tools to make informed decisions about their health and that of their baby. We aim to strengthen their ability to track their own pregnancy progression, understand important milestones, and know when to seek medical attention.

Progress Measurement:

To measure our progress towards achieving these impact objectives, we track several key indicators:

Number of Prenatal and Postnatal Consultations: We monitor the number of prenatal and postnatal consultations conducted by pregnant women enrolled in our system. An increase in this number indicates better adherence to maternal and child healthcare.

Rate of Pregnancy and Childbirth-Related Complications: We track the rate of complications reported by pregnant women participating in our program. A decrease in this rate indicates an improvement in maternal and child health and a reduction in risks for both mother and child.

Appointment Reminder Rate: We assess the effectiveness of our reminder system by tracking the appointment reminder rate for prenatal and postnatal consultations. A high reminder rate indicates better utilization of the system and increased adherence to healthcare.

User Satisfaction: We regularly gather feedback from pregnant women using our application to assess their satisfaction and overall experience. Positive evaluations indicate an effective response to their needs and better adherence to our solution.

Our solution relies on a robust and scalable technological architecture that combines web and mobile tools to provide an optimal user experience. On the technical side, our solution includes a web application developed using the latest web technologies such as PHP, Laravel Framework, and MySQL for data management. This web application is designed to be accessible from any web browser, allowing users to access their health information anytime and anywhere.

In parallel, we have developed a native mobile application for iOS and Android platforms, using technologies such as Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android. This mobile application offers a user-friendly and intuitive interface, allowing users to easily access their health data, receive appointment reminders, and consult practical tips, even when they are on the go and offline.

Data synchronization between the web application and the mobile application is ensured by a secure RESTful API, which enables seamless bidirectional data exchange. This approach ensures that information is always up-to-date and consistent, regardless of the device used by the user.

Furthermore, our solution integrates emerging technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC) technology for the CPN card, enabling secure access to pregnant women's health data via NFC card readers or QR codes. This technology enhances the privacy and security of information while providing quick and easy access to relevant data.

In summary, our solution relies on a combination of web, mobile, and emerging technologies to provide a comprehensive and personalized experience to users, while ensuring the security, confidentiality, and availability of health data.

We have a total of 12 people working in our organization. There are 5 full-time employees, 5 part-time service providers and 2 volunteers.

We have been working on our solution for 5 years.

Our team is deeply committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels of our organization. We firmly believe that diversity enriches our corporate culture and strengthens our ability to innovate. To ensure this, we have adopted a proactive approach to recruiting and retaining a diverse team, representing a variety of experiences, perspectives, and identities. Our recruitment process is designed to be open and inclusive, with a focus on valuing talent regardless of background or establishment.

As a leadership team, we have set clear goals to enhance diversity within our organization. This includes promoting equal opportunities, creating an inclusive work environment where everyone feels valued and respected, and implementing policies and practices that highlight diversity and equity. We are also committed to providing diversity and inclusion awareness training to all members of our team to strengthen our understanding and commitment to these core values.

To concretize our commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion, we have taken tangible steps to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment for all members of our team. This includes implementing fair human resources policies, establishing diversity and inclusion task forces to review our internal practices, and promoting a culture of collaboration and mutual respect. By fostering diversity within our team, we are confident that we will be better equipped to tackle the complex challenges we face and to realize our vision of a better and more equitable world.

1. Monthly Subscription for Healthcare Providers:

• Service : Access to the patient management platform, including appointment scheduling, electronic medical records management, and data analytics.
• Initial Financial Offering : $50 per month for small rural health centers, $200 per month for medium-sized urban clinics, and $500 per month for larger urban hospitals.
• Evolution Over Time : Gradual tariff increases based on additional features and the addition of personalized services, with an annual tariff review based on user feedback and continuous platform improvement.

2. Funding for Pregnant Women's Access:

• Service: Free access to the mobile application for pregnant women, including pregnancy tracking, practical advice, and a helpline.
• Initial Financial Offering : Full funding through partnerships with philanthropic organizations and development agencies, with an initial commitment of $100,000 to cover development and launch costs.
• Evolution Over Time : Custom financing agreement renegotiation as the application gains popularity and impact, transitioning to mixed financing models including advertising revenue and government grants.

3. Complementary Services:

• Service: Targeted advertisements within the application, partnerships with manufacturers of maternal and child health products.
• Initial Financial Offering: Flexible pricing model based on the number of ad impressions or user engagement level with commercial partners, with competitive rates compared to other online advertising platforms.
• Evolution Over Time: Expansion of complementary service offerings based on user needs and market opportunities, with an adaptive pricing strategy to maximize revenue while preserving the user experience.

4. Subscription for Access to the Patient Management Platform for Beneficiaries (Pregnant Women and Mother-Child Couples):

• Service : Access to the patient management platform, including appointment scheduling, electronic medical records management, and data analytics.
• Initial Financial Offering : Monthly subscription plans starting at $0,82 per month.
• Evolution Over Time : Option to add additional features incurring additional fees. Annual tariff review based on user feedback and continuous platform improvement.

Our plan to become financially viable relies on a diversified and scalable approach, combining multiple revenue streams to support our long-term work. Firstly, we aim to establish strong partnerships with philanthropic organizations and development agencies to secure grants and initial funding. These funds will enable us to develop and launch our solution, covering costs for development, marketing, and initial deployment.

In parallel, we plan to generate revenue through monthly subscriptions for healthcare providers and end users, providing access to our patient management platform. These subscriptions will be flexibly priced based on the size and needs of healthcare facilities, ensuring a stable and growing revenue source as our user base expands.

Additionally, we are exploring opportunities for partnerships with manufacturers of maternal and child health products to integrate complementary services and targeted advertisements into our app. These collaborations will allow us to diversify our revenue streams while providing tangible benefits to our app users.

Regarding evidence of our financial success thus far, we can provide concrete examples of grants we have received from United Nations System organizations such as UNFPA, UNDP, and UNAIDS. These achievements demonstrate our ability to mobilize financial resources and successfully execute our business model.