Remote Pregnancy Monitoring
About the Remote Pregnancy Monitoring Challenge
This challenge supports innovative technology-based solutions that help providers remotely monitor the health of pregnant women, and empower women to make informed decisions about their own care.
Solutions should aim to:
- Increase remote and virtual access to quality care for low-income pregnant women
- Alleviate barriers to quality care
- Improve communications among patients, providers and/or broader support networks
- Empower pregnant women with knowledge and tools to monitor their health and care
- Benefit women who live in rural and medically underserved areas who have limited access to on-site prenatal care
Why Remote Pregnancy Monitoring Matters
Many women who are low income in both rural and urban communities face barriers in accessing prenatal care, as well as postpartum care for up to 3 months post-birth. These barriers include:
- Personal barriers: Work, childcare, transportation, education, culture, language
- Health system barriers: Limited hours of operation, lack of services
- Environmental barriers: Location and connectivity or cell phone coverage
The current paradigm for prenatal care includes 15 face-to-face visits with providers. The content of those visits includes critical medical services, risk assessments, patient education, and building of trusting patient-provider relationships. Women facing these barriers miss out on these critical opportunities for monitoring and understanding their health and the health of their newborns.
The goal of this challenge is to use technology to allow women to experience the benefits of an ongoing relationship with a health-care provider to keep them and their children healthy.
Phases 1 and 2 are now Closed.
