piClinic development principles

The piClinic development process embraces and endorses the Principles for Digital Development to help realize the most constructive and sustainable impact to the people for whom the program is dedicated.

As an endorser of the Principles for Digital Development, we will seek to embody the concepts of the Digital Principles, represented in our work culture and in the policies and processes guiding our international development activities.

piClinic Principles for Digital Development

This section describes how the piClinic development applies the Principles for Digital Development.

Design with the user

The piClinic’s users have been at the center of the the development process from the beginning. Throughout the development process, user needs and pain points have been studied through repeated in-situ observations and interviews. The piClinic is designed to adopt and adapt as these needs and pain points evolve.

Understand the existing ecosystem

Rather than replace existing patient information systems, the piClinic is designed to merge into them. The piClinic’s goal is to apply technology where technology provides a cost-effective advantage and retain existing processes that continue to demonstrate their benefits.

Design for scale

While the piClinic Console is designed to serve small clinics, the system design is such that it can scale up for larger clinics and health centers that also have limited resources for information systems.

Build for sustainability

The piClinic’s system hardware and software are intentionally kept as simple and as straightforward as possible to support adoption and development. The use of open-source software and easy-to-obtain, off-the-shelf hardware also contribute to the device’s and the project’s sustainability.

Be data driven

The goal of the piClinic is to make it easier to collect and compile the public health data at the source—where the patient meets the healthcare provider. The piClinic Console also collects operational and usage data to improve future designs.

Use open standards

The piClinic is built on open-source hardware and software. The piClinic software is stored in open repos (github.com) and is licensed for sharing and reuse.

Reuse and improve

The piClinic’s open and modular design enables adoption and substitution of individual functions to accommodate future innovations.

Address privacy & security

Maintaining the security of the patient information that the piClinic collects and stores is a fundamental part of the piClinic’s system design.

Be collaborative

A successful collaboration with our development partners and supporters is key to the piClinic’s success. Visit our growing list of supporters and collaborators.