Health coalition tests mobile app to enroll patients in public assistance programs

In a potentially pivotal development for the public health sector, a consortium of federally qualified health centers across the North Bay area around Oakland, Calif., is taking part in a pilot project testing a mobile app that enrolls patients in public assistance programs, according to the North Bay Business Journal. Redwood Community Health Coalition is using a mobile version of the One-e-App web-based enrollment system from Social Interest Solutions, an Oakland-based developer, for about 80,000 patients from Sonoma County, many of whom qualify for some type of public assistance such as Medi-Cal or Healthy Families. 

The pilot study is among the first in the nation to test the effectiveness of public program enrollment using mobile devices, according to Social Interest Solutions, and the Redwood Coalition is the first organization in California to test the mobile. Funded by a two-year, $1.2 million grant from the California Endowment, the Redwood Coalition sees great potential for mobile devices to bridge the enrollment gaps that exist in the public health realm. Article