Working with the mHealth Impact Lab and Data2Care Technologies, Dr. Sills developed and researched a free mobile app that guided dehydrated patients and their caretakers through a medically-proven technique called oral rehydration therapy.
How the moab app was created
In 2001, Marion was on a 110-mile bike ride in Canyonlands National Park–near Moab, Utah when her friend and software engineer Shawn Emery experienced heat exhaustion and dehydration. Marion helped rehydrate Shawn in the remote canyon using the same oral rehydration protocol used in many healthcare settings for the past 50 years.
Sixteen years later, while working with a team of emergency department colleagues to improve care for children with dehydration from gastroenteritis, we recognized that the algorithm-driven sequence of decisions and actions involved in oral rehydration therapy were
- difficult to communicate effectively and efficiently to caregivers (parents) of children in the emergency department for dehydration related to gastroenteritis
- difficult for caregivers to follow accurately and efficiently
- frequently undermining the success of oral rehydration therapy attempts, leading to more intravenous fluids
- an ideal target for a mobile (smartphone) health app
We formed Data2Care Technologies and developed a new user interface, adapted for household use. We chose the name “moab” to reflect both the initial dehydration narrative and the theme of hydration in a dehydrated setting. This version of the app, moab, was released for free public use on May 31, 2018 and received a Phase I NIH STTR award from the National Institute of Child Health and Development to further the research and development on the oral rehydration app. In October 2019, moab was awarded the Technological Innovations in Pediatric Emergency Medicine Award. The app research and commercialization was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic and ultimately was never resumed. The app is no longer available, although the Data2Care partners, Marion and Shawn, continue to provide consultation on mHealth app development and commercialization.
About Oral Rehydration Therapy
Acute gastroenteritis (AGE)–infectious diarrhea—is a common condition that is costly in the US and high- mortality in developing nations. The cornerstone of AGE management is oral rehydration therapy (ORT), an evidence-based technique that has saved over 54 million lives in the 50 years since its introduction. The problem we aim to address is ORT’s underuse in developed countries—specifically in the home setting. If widely adopted, ORT could reduce 80% of AGE-related healthcare visits and costs among children, eliminating 1.3 million emergency department visits and $1.5 billion in hospital costs annually.
Marion R. Sills, MD, MPH 