The third largest county in the U.S. has released their first ever public mobile app for publishing health inspection results and reporting food safety complaints. Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services (HCPHES) has developed a single app that brings together many of its primary public health services and integrates them with the capabilities of a smartphone. The result proactively brings HCPHES public health services into the hands of Harris County residents as never before.

Dr. Umair A. Shah, Executive Director of HCPHES says, “We have considered various uses of applications for some time. The question was how best to implement app technology in an environment that provides such a wide-range of services.”
HCPHES is unveiling the first modules of its new smartphone application. The Environmental Public Health modules are the first of six to be released. The remaining four functions of the app, “Health & Wellness,” “Animal Concerns,” “Preparedness & Response” and “Mosquito Concerns,” will become available with future releases. “The purpose of the app is to put knowledge in the hands of our residents. We are leveraging technology to be a proactive partner with our community,” says Michael Schaffer, Director of Environmental Public Health.

The modules are a two-way conduit – not only providing public health information but also the ability to report information back to the county health department.

• Food Establishments – gives direct access to inspection reports and provides a mechanism for reporting instances of possible foodborne illness or other unsafe practices at food establishments in unincorporated Harris County.
• Report Issues – makes reporting hazardous situations with commercial pools, public drinking water or neighborhood nuisances easy.

The HCPHES app is available for free download at Google play and iTunes stores. Download the app from the Google Play app store here: HCPHES for Android

The iOS version for iPhones and iPads is here: HCPHES for iOS

You can also access the web app from any mobile or desktop browsers at http://mobileapp.hcphes.org