title: A mobile-phone immunization record in Ontario: uptake and opportunities for improving public health.
abstract: A free iPhone app was designed to help parents in Ontario track their children's vaccination records. It was launched in the iTunes app store on 20 November 2012. There were 4867 downloads in the following 12 months. We observed that downloads of the app were correlated with media coverage. Usage of the app was measured by app opens and the time spent in the app per open: on average there were 53 opens per day and 126 seconds spent per open. Users expressed concerns about the privacy of health information and accessibility by people of lower socioeconomic status, who were less likely to be smartphone owners. A national version of the app is now being developed for multiple mobile phone types. There is potential to develop additional features such as mobile adverse event reporting, vaccine vial barcode scanning and integration with immunization registries. Immunization is an area in which a mobile solution is very useful.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine and of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada kwilson@ohri.ca.
authors.forename: Kumanan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.affiliation: Better Outcomes Registry and Network, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pluscauskas
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Cameron
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D040421:Cell Phone; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003219:Confidentiality; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D010290:Parents; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011634:Public Health; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors