title: Médecins Sans Frontières' Clinical Guidance mobile application: analysis of a new electronic health tool.
abstract: Many health care workers lack access to clinical support tools in rural and resource-limited settings. To address this gap, the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Clinical Guidelines manual was converted into a static mobile health reference application (app) entitled MSF Guidance. The app's utility and growth was examined, and within 6 months of its launch 150 countries had downloaded the app, with demonstrated retention among new and existing users. With over 3500 downloads and 36 000 sessions amounting to 250 000 screen views, MSF Guidance is a new mobile health platform with widely demonstrated utility, including potential use as an epidemiological tool, where clinical conditions investigated by app users were found to correlate with geographical outbreaks. These findings show that mobile apps can be used to disseminate health information effectively.
authors.affiliation: The Open Medicine Project, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: The Open Medicine Project, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dalwai
authors.affiliation: Médecins Sans Frontières, Brussels Operational Centre, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: R Vincent
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Médecins Sans Frontières, Brussels Operational Centre, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Jemmy
keywords: clinical education; humanitarian; mHealth; mobile application