Using or Creating an mHealth Platform

Determine the 3rd party vendor and platform of best fit for you

Is this company local or remote?

What is the company structure?

  • The following team infrastructure is ideal:
    • Project/Product management
    • User interface (UI) design and user experience (UX) design
    • Software development
    • Hardware development
    • Quality assurance testing

What areas  of expertise will your project require from the 3rd party vendor?

  • Usability testing
  • User interface (UI) and user experience (UE)  design
  • Mobile app and web development
  • Backend database and server set-up and management
  • Applied programming interface (API) set-up and management
  • State of the art technology features:
    • Geofencing
    • Sensor integration
    • Machine learning / Deep learning
  • Data analysis
  • Contract research organization (CRO) services
    • Study management of the technology
    • Regulatory compliance of the systems and procedures related to the technology

How much relevant experience does the 3rd party vendor have?

How long has the product been on the market?

  • The more established, the more relevant work experience the company can provide – the better.
  • What is the company’s software development life cycle?
    • Meaning, what is their system for development and testing of a product?
  • How frequently do their products require bug fixes and updates?
    • Frequent bug fixes is concerning.
    • The more frequently the platform is updated, the more risk of introducing bugs?
  • What compliance standards are met in the design of the platform?

💰Review the platform cost model

🔨Are you building a new platform?
  • Create a master services agreement and scope of work with the 3rd party vendor to determine the project deliverables, timeline, and cost.
    • Establish ownership.
    • Agree to hourly rate / cost modeling, deliverables, and the time it takes to provide the deliverables at the agreed upon cost.
  • You may need to keep an open dialogue between the 3rd party vendor while also checking with the WUSTL Office of Technology Management (OTM) to better determine ownership in this innovative partnership.
📱Are you using or licensing an existing platform?
  • Are you using an established platform “as-is”?
  • Are you tailoring an existing platform to meet your study needs?
  • Either way, you will need to complete a license agreement and scope of work with the 3rd party vendor to determine the project deliverables, timeline, and cost.

Review the platform privacy policy

  • If you are building a new platform with the vendor, determine who will write the privacy policy?
  • Ensure the privacy policy meet regulatory standards that govern the study.

Determine what services are offered by the 3rd party vendor

  • Training to use the mHealth platform
  • Product maintenance for updates and bugs associated with the platform
  • Database and server set-up and management
  • Data monitoring