Akron Children’s Hospital brings child care info to the palms of parents’ hands

Parents, understandably, have a lot of questions about the health of their kids. And when they’re out buying diapers or driving carpool groups to soccer practice, they can’t check a computer to see if their child’s cough is a minor malady or something more serious.

The staff at Akron Children’s Hospital knew parents needed a resource to help answer those kinds of questions, available to them anywhere at any time. So in March 2011, the hospital worked with Fine Point Public Relations & Advertising to launch the iPhone and iPad version of its Care4Kids app, with an Android version following in August. A mobile version of the hospital website launched a month later.

For providing parents with a resource that really offered useful features, Fine Point took top honors in the 2012 PR Daily Awards in the category of Best Mobile Strategy and/or Campaign.

The development team looked to the top features on the Akron Children’s website—a find-a-provider function, hospital contact information and a location finder—and put them front and center in the app. The app also includes a game called “Am I Germy?” to help kids and parents avoid infections, Facebook and Twitter connectivity, access to instructional videos and articles, and get-well e-cards.

As an incentive to parents, the hospital offered a free parking pass to anyone who downloaded the app. So far, nearly 1,500 iPhone/iPad users and almost 500 Android users have taken advantage.

To view the winning work, please click here.