The contest is called Kiss My App and it is sponsored by financial software company Vena. The prize has gone to two 15-year old school children from Flesherton, Ontario. The two students will share the $10,000 grand prize, after a range of apps were considered by a panel of judges.
The winning health app is called Emerg Master and it was designed by Caius Dobson and Jacob Luxton, who are both grade 9 students. Both Caius and Jacob attend Grey Highlands Secondary School.
The winning app is designed to aid patients to aid through emergency departments in hospitals. Clarity to services and maps is given through the use of interactive characters, and an element of fun is added through the app having some games. As well as hospitals, the app can be adapted for community care services. The idea was to improve the quality of the patient experience.
One of the competition organizers, Susan deRyk enthused: “The ingenuity, determination and passion demonstrated by our winning team is nothing short of inspirational.”
Commenting on the contest, Don Mal, who is the Chief Executive of Vena Solutions, stated in an email to Digital Journal: “We’re very proud to support the contest and especially the winning team,” said. “If these students produced this app in high school, I can only imagine what they’ll be doing in the next 3-5 years.” Mal made further reference to the students having the potential to be future leaders in the developing world of health technology.
Following the contest, the Emerg Master app will be provided for free via Google Play. On hearing the news Canadian scientist Joanna Sinn (@JoannaSinn) tweeted: “I’ll be downloading Emerg Master on June 28.” Following on, OCSA (@OCSAtweets), the Ontario Community Support Association, messaged: “High school students help patients navigate Emergency Departments and Community Care with new “Emerg Master” app.”
Health apps are growing rapidly, although there are far more available than are actively used. CBC estimates that, globally, of 165,000 health apps now available, a mere 36 account for half of downloads. One of the barriers to consumers is the bewildering choice available, including many with similar names offering similar functionality (there are, for example, thousands of running apps.) The app developed by Caius Dobson and Jacob Luxton appears to stand out from the pack in a novel and interesting way.
