


FIND
Find authoritative, current, and trustworthy teratology information to support medication safety in pregnancy and lactation
UNDERSTAND
Understand the potential teratogenic risk of drugs that might be used, by efficiently searching for topic-specific information from within individual documents
DECIDE
Decide on the most appropriate medication or treatment options for pregnancy and lactation
EXPLAIN
Explain to and advise patients and families so they feel more comfortable with decisions and potential risks
Introducing the ReproAnswer™ App
ReproAnswer™ bridges the gap, identified by the CDC, between healthcare providers and the expert teratogen information needed to support better decisions for medication use in pregnancy to help reduce premature births and birth defects
Research and development of the ReproAnswer™ System was funded by Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention), with input from experts at the University of Washington, including the expertise of those responsible for creating and maintaining the TERIS database.
Integrating authoritative information from multiple “gold standard” sources, the ReproAnswer™ System supports healthcare providers as they assess medication risk with women of child-bearing age.
Use ReproAnswer to:
- FIND authoritative information to support medication safety in pregnancy and lactation
- UNDERSTAND quickly by efficiently searching for and returning topic-specific information
- DECIDE on appropriate medication treatment options for pregnancy and lactation
- EXPLAIN to patients and family members so they feel more comfortable with decisions
Why ReproAnswer?
For most medications the safety or risk profile is either unknown or very difficult to find, and it is difficult for healthcare providers and women to weigh the risks and benefits of treatment options.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- 9 of 10 women take at least one medication during pregnancy
- Medication use in pregnancy up more than 60% in last 30 years
- Women struggle with decisions regarding medication use in pregnancy
- Pregnant patients may discontinue or under use needed medications due to fear
- Without treatment, the woman and/or her baby could be harmed
ReproAnswer™ System — Challenge and Scope
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Challenge
- Improve birth outcomes by providing healthcare providers with the expert teratogen information they need to care for pregnant patients and their unborn children
- Develop an app to make targeted information from existing teratology databases easy to retrieve and more broadly available via mobile devices
Scope
- Up to 9 out of 10 women report taking at least one medication sometime during pregnancy
- Over half of all pregnancies are unplanned
- For most medications, the safety or risk profile is either unknown or very difficult to find, making it difficult for healthcare providers and women to weigh the risks and benefits of different treatment options during pregnancy
- 40,000 infants are born each year with birth defects directly attributed to medication exposure during prenatal development
ReproAnswer™ System — Features and Benefits
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Connectivity:
- App does not require internet or wi-fi connectivity for use
- Connect to the internet only for initial data download and periodic data/app updates
Data Sources:
- Curated, fully integrated data sources returned by a single search:
- MotherToBaby Fact Sheets (OTIS) – free to all users upon registration
- Fee-Based Data Sources (see pricing info below):
- REPROTOX® – Reproductive Hazard Information Database
- Shephard’s Catalog of Teratogenic Agents
- TERIS – Teratogen Information System
- Other data sources may be added as appropriate
Ease of Navigation:
- Bookmarks – returns users to previously bookmarked documents
- Search History – returns users to previously accessed documents
- Drill Down – allows users to target information more specifically by:
- SEARCHING within a returned document
- SCROLLING within a returned document
Customized Display Options of Targeted Search Results:
- Users can customize display of search results
- Search takes users to a list of documents, or targeted location within returned document(s)
- Users can search by:
- Title
- Keyword
- Free text search
Filter Searches by:
- Title
- Risk Magnitude
- Data Quality
- Data Source
Print Patient Handouts / Documents in PDF Format
- Print data source documents for easier reading
- Patient handouts – MotherToBaby Fact Sheets, or other relevant documents
- Print/compare multiple documents for in-depth review
Pricing Information:
- Website access included with all paid App subscriptions; a website version is available under certain circumstances (contact us distribution list – go to Ellen)
- ReproAnswer™ App is free to download from iOS and Android App Stores
- MotherToBaby Fact Sheets (OTIS) are included for no fee upon registration
- During registration, users may subscribe to fee-based data sources:
- ReproTox®
- Shepard’s Catalog
- TERIS