Akron Children's Introduces Free iPhone App

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Mar 23, 2011, 11:39 ET

AKRON, Ohio, March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Akron Children's Hospital launched its first mobile app, Care4Kids, in March. Developed especially for parents, Care4Kids is currently available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It will be available for the Android in May.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110323/CL70307 )

In addition to general health and hospital information, Care4Kids lets parents store their family's medical history, including insurance and provider information, medications, allergies, emergency contacts and more. Parents can password-protect this information and easily share it using Bluetooth technology.

"Our goal was to develop a mobile app that parents would find useful," said Andrea Joliet, assistant director of Interactive Marketing & Public Relations at Akron Children's Hospital. "As a parent, I know how important it is to have easy access to this type of information, when I need it, wherever I need it. And as an app junkie, I really wanted to create something practical and valuable for parents."

There are currently more than 4,200 healthcare apps available on the Apple platform, and about 500 for Android users, according to Mobile Health News. This number will continue to grow, with an estimated 500,000 people expected to use healthcare mobile applications by 2015.

"Mobile technology is changing the way we communicate," Joliet said. "It offers tremendous opportunities in healthcare."

In addition to storing family health records, Care4Kids also features:

Am I Germy?, a tool to show the contagiousness of common infections
Tips to Grow By health information articles
Videos on a range of timely child health topics
Find-A-Doc, a tool to find a pediatrician or pediatric specialist and request an appointment
Get Well eCards for patients admitted to the hospital

Hospital locations, phone numbers, news, events and more are also accessible through the app.

To download the free app, search for "Care4Kids" in the iTunes Store, or visit http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/care4kids/id417964813?mt=8.

About Akron Children's Hospital

Akron Children's Hospital is the largest pediatric healthcare provider in northeast Ohio. We care for nearly 600,000 patients annually at two freestanding hospitals and offer services at more than 80 locations. Akron Children's also serves as a major teaching affiliate of Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, and offers a number of pediatric subspecialty fellowship training programs. In addition, we are committed to finding ways to improve the prevention and treatment of pediatric illnesses through research. For more information, visit www.akronchildrens.org.

SOURCE Akron Children's Hospital