PhaaseID (Patient Health Analysis and Support Environment Identification) is a Yonkofa Project initiative, and is being piloted through a partnership with Noguchi Memorial Institute in Ghana. The project was sponsored by Grand Challenges Canada.
PhaaseID
Background - This biometric identification system, allows health care providers to use iris images to quickly identify patients and provide them with their laboratory results and vaccination records, regardless of if they present at a different village, have a common name, or do not know their birthdate.
Scope - A trial of the software was arranged in one hospital and several clinics in Ghana through cooperation of the University of Ghana and the Ministry of Health of Ghana.
Patients are enrolled using a picture of their eyes. The system is easy to use and portable. This photos shows parent volunteers helping with malaria screening in their children's school.
Yonkofa and Electronic Medical Records
Need - Accurate identification of patients and the ability to access past medical records is essential to proper medical care. Yonkofa volunteers realized this very fundamental principal was not available to patients in the remote areas of Ghana, and set out to find a solution. PhaaseID is that solution.
The patient's records are immediately accessible with a scan of his or her eyes, so records from remote and temporary health care scenarios will be available if the patient later presents to a hospital or clinic. Furthermore, caregiver information is recorded, and linked to the iris scans, which can be an instrumental feature when trying to locate a pediatric patient in rural villages.
PhaaseID allows easy data entry and instant access to important information such as lab results.
Grand Challenges Canada
Funding - The project was sponsored by Grand Challenges Canada.
Mission - Grand Challenges Canada is funded by the Government of Canada and is dedicated to supporting Bold Ideas with Big Impact in global health.
Noguchi Memorial Institute
Research -A semi-autonomous institute of the University of Ghana, Noguchi Memorial Institute is dedicated to excellence in biomedical research; targeting diseases of public health importance. Noguchi has a special focus on reducing infant and child mortality in areas with little or no health care infrastructure. This has made PhaaseID an interesting avenue of research for the Institute and a good match for the goals of The Yonkofa Project.
Noguchi Memorial Institute is specially focused on reducing infant and child mortality in areas lacking health care.
Development Team
The lead developer for PhaaseID is MyCodeMatters, LLC., headquartered in Louisiana. MyCodeMatters specializes in custom software development and mobile applications and has been instrumental in turning Yonkofa's vision into reality.
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