L4 Mobile Reference App

Delivery of WHO recommendations at the point of care in emergency settings  

Under the Clinical Care in Crises project, the App will be called ‘Frontline.’  

The Frontline reference mobile application is the fourth layer of the project (L4). The app will provide clinical decision-support to frontline health workers in emergencies, preserving the fidelity of, and increasing accessibility to, WHO recommendations.   

The app will provide clinical decision-support to frontline health workers in emergencies, preserving the fidelity of, and increasing accessibility to, WHO recommendations.  

What is the Frontline Mobile App?  

The WHO Frontline Mobile app will be an executable reference software, which accurately represents the intentions, operational, and functional requirements of the WHO recommendations for emergency settings.  

It will address user and health system needs and comprise machine-readable data and calculations within interoperability standards as documented in the L1–L3 layers. 

It will be an open-source solution that can be further configured to meet country- or site-specific requirements and integrated to member state’s existing digital solutions.   

It will be available for Android devices and built using the Google Android FHIR SDK which supports HL7 FHIR ® /CQL.   

Who are the intended users/actors?  

The users/actors of the solutions are below   

Users/Actors of the Frontline Reference Application

  • Health Worker (at Primary Health Care and Community level): People whose job it is to protect and improve the health of their communities in emergency settings.  
  • Neonate / Infant / Child:  Primary clients receiving health care services from health workers in emergency settings. 
  • Care Giver:  Person who gives care to a neonate / infant / child and can be considered the mother, father, guardian or carer.   
  • Health Manager / Administrator:  Person who carries out administrative roles within the health facility or in the community (e.g. within the MoH, an NGO or a UN agency). 
  • IT Administrator:  Responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of client computer systems, servers, and data security systems.  

Benefits of the mobile reference app:  

For the healthcare worker: 

  • reduce interpretation of guidance and improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis at the point of care. 
  • added confidence that their patient care is in line with WHO expertise  
  • easier continuity of care for follow-up visits 

For the patient:  

  • assurance that their health care providers are following recommendations for the best possible levels of care   

For the Ministry of Health:  

  • provides a digital solution that they own and manage using expert WHO guidance with the intent of improving health outcomes in an emergency setting.   

Areas of digital health intervention  

The areas of intervention of the WHO CCC reference application, based on the WHO Classification of Digital Health Interventions, is below. The full business requirements documentation can be accessed at this link.

Digital health interventions supported by the Frontline Reference application                     

  • 1.1 Targeted Client Communication
  • 2.1 Client Identification and Registration
  • 2.2 Client Health Records Management 
  • 2.3 Health Provider Decision Support 
  • 2.6 Referral Coordination 
  • 2.7 Health Worker Activity Planning and Scheduling  
  • 2.8 Healthcare Provider Training  
  • 2.9 Prescription and Medication Management
  • 2.10 Laboratory and Diagnostics Imaging Management 
  • 3.7 Facility Management 
  • 4.0 Data Services  
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How will data from the mobile app be used and retained?   

The data will be owned and managed by the Ministry of Health in each country where it is deployed. Data will therefore be governed by the national data protection laws and legislation in each country where Clinical Care in Crises is deployed. 

Where can I access source code for the WHO Frontline app?

The source-code for Frontline is is distributed under the terms of Apache License 2.0. It is available on our development partner website here: