title: Mobile phone communication and health system strengthening: a pilot study of telephonic warmline consultation in HIV care and support in South India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  I-TECH India established a warmline pilot in the year 2008 to provide mobile-based technical support on clinical management to doctors caring for HIV patients in antiretroviral therapy (ART) centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Warmline was piloted from May to August 2008. Standardized call records were analyzed. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The service was used by 38 doctors. The study demonstrated the frequency of calls and the nature of questions raised by them. Of the calls, 139 were new calls (90.3%) and 15 were follow-up calls. The average number of calls per day was 2.6 (SD 1.6). Of the total number, 81% of the calls were from high-volume centers. Most of the calls were related to ARV toxicities, ART initiation, and the management of opportunistic infections (OI).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The South Indian warmline pilot demonstrated a potential model of ongoing technical assistance to ART doctors in times of need. AIDS-control organizations may consider expanding this model of expert distance-mentoring clinical support as a resource in India and other countries.
authors.affiliation: 1International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Manoharan
authors.forename: Shoba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dharmarajan
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Ramalingam
authors.forename: Siju
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mathew
authors.forename: Jacob C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Varghese
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D057191:Capacity Building; D040421:Cell Phone; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015277:Hotlines / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents