Application of smart phone in Better Border Healthcare Program": a module for mother and child care."

BACKGROUND: To assess the application of cell phone integrating into the healthcare system to improve antenatal care (ANC) and expanded programme on immunization (EPI) services for the under-served population in border area. METHODS: A module combining web-based and mobile technology was developed to generate ANC/EPI visit schedule dates in which the healthcare personnel can cross-check- identify and update the mother's ANC and child's EPI status at the healthcare facility or at the household location when performing home visit/ with additional feature of sending appointment reminder directly to the scheduled mother in the community. RESULTS: The module improved ANC/EPI coverage in the study area along the country border including for both Thai and non-Thai mothers and children who were either permanent resident or migrants/ numbers of ANC and EPI visit on-time as per schedule significantly increased/ there was less delay of antenatal visits and immunizations. CONCLUSIONS: The module integrated and functioned