ZotCare: A Flexible, Personalizable, and Affordable mHealth Service Provider

TL;DR

ZotCare is a versatile, customizable, and affordable mHealth platform that simplifies deployment and research, enabling timely interventions and flexible study designs with real-world health data.

Contribution

It introduces ZotCare, a flexible, ready-to-use mHealth service platform that addresses existing limitations in time, cost, and personalization for health research.

Findings

Successful deployment in multiple research studies

Demonstrated flexibility and adaptability in various use cases

Provided accessible resources for researchers

Abstract

The proliferation of Internet-connected health devices and the widespread availability of mobile connectivity have resulted in a wealth of reliable digital health data and the potential for delivering just-in-time interventions. However, leveraging these opportunities for health research requires the development and deployment of mobile health (mHealth) applications, which present significant technical challenges for researchers. While existing mHealth solutions have made progress in addressing some of these challenges, they often fall short in terms of time-to-use, affordability, and flexibility for personalization and adaptation. ZotCare aims to address these limitations by offering ready-to-use and flexible services, providing researchers with an accessible, cost-effective, and adaptable solution for their mHealth studies. This article focuses on ZotCare's service orchestration and highlights its capabilities in creating a programmable environment for mHealth research. Additionally, we showcase several successful research use cases that have utilized ZotCare, both in the past and in ongoing projects. Furthermore, we provide resources and information for researchers who are considering ZotCare as their mHealth research solution.