Innovative use of mobile technology for data collection and follow-up in a community-based, multi-agency, linkage to care intervention

Background: iPod Touch technology is used for program evaluation of the BANPH project, a network of community and health providers focused on finding and linking out of care individuals with known HIV infection in San Francisco and Oakland, CA. The network consists of 12 CBOs, public health clinics and corrections health agencies. Objectives: Objectives for using this technology include ease of survey administration, greater accuracy of data, reduced data entry burden and reduced administrative costs for staff time and materials. Methods: From 8GB iPod Touch devices, the iformTM app is used to administer an electronic survey to assess clients' barriers. Quantitative and qualitative measures are utilized, with qualitative data captured on the device via voice recordings. Devices were provisioned to 15 outreach workers and Peer Advocates at 10 community-based organizations. Survey records automatically upload to a secure server when the device is online via wifi. A client-specific follow-up form to document linkage to care is then generated and assigned to the iPod of the outreach worker who submitted the original survey. Results: Use of the iPod Touch and iForm app for electronic data collection and management has provided great depth of responses and facilitated data management in this multi-agency intervention. Initial resistance to using the devices was overcome through on-going technical support, which resulted in increased capacity around technology utilization at community partner sites. This technology has provided excellent portability and privacy, and has the advantage of offering multiple survey versions on a single device (in our case: English, Spanish and incarcerated populations). Discussion: Using mobile handheld devices for community-based data collection offers many benefits as it facilitates data collection and management tasks while reducing administrative costs. Potential public health applications exist across disciplines, geographic areas, and nations. Introduction of the iPods to community-based sites built agency and staff capacity around use of technology.