Providence Health and Services sees mobile app development as a key way to engage time-starved young moms—and build patient retention and brand awareness as it develops a digital healthcare tool it can license to other health systems.

In August 2016, Providence, a not-for-profit Catholic healthcare system operating 50 hospitals and other facilities in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington, launched a Circle by Providence Android and Apple app to better connect with young mothers and women about to give birth.

The free Circle by Providence  app allows a woman to track metrics before and after delivery, including  letting women track her baby’s age, weight, feeding and fetal kicks.  Moms and soon-to-be moms also can access content on topics such as post-partum depression.

The Providence system handles about 60,000 births annually, but the health system needed a better way to engage and retain patients for post-natal care, Providence senior director of consumer innovation and women’s health Hannelore Buckenmeyer told attendees during her session “Strategies to engage and retain Mom” today at the World Healthcare Congress in Washington, D.C.

Women’s healthcare is an issue healthcare professionals need to pay better attention to, Buckenmeyer says. 75% of all care givers are women delivering services that are valued at $148 billion annually. “That’s bigger than the gross domestic product of many countries,” she says. “80% of all healthcare decisions are made by women.”

But many don’t feel listened to regarding healthcare, Buckenmeyer says. “77% of women don’t know what to do to stay healthy and 62% of women attribute a lack of health knowledge to a lack of time,” she says.

To appeal as a trusted content provider to women Providence launched the Circle by Providence app. “There are a ton of related apps out there but women don’t always trust advertising sponsored apps,” she says. “We had an opportunity to become a trusted content provider because we don’t have advertising and our content is coming from us—her doctor or hospital.”

Providence used an internal focus group of 40 women to gather feedback on the app, then began development work in October 2015. Circle by Providence app is now available in two Providence hospitals in Oregon and Washington and will be expanded to California hospitals in the next several weeks.

The app, which was developed internally, had to clear a lot of obstacles, including legal and compliance review, before launching, Buckenmeyer says.

About 5,100 moms have downloaded the app, Buckenmeyer says. Moms using the app do so about 1.6 times per week. Typical activities include signing up for classes and clinics offered by Providence Health and selecting a Providence pediatrician.

Providence plans to add additional content relevant to women and their health concerns, beginning with more content and tools about children from their toddler years to 18 years of age.

Providence also is licensing its app for use by other health systems, including Swedish Medical Center, Hoag Health Network and OSF Healthcare.

“We want to make care as holistic and convenient as possible for mom, and make her life easier,” Buckenmeyer says.