Case Study: SmartSteward
Infection Control Platform for Skilled Nursing Facilities
The Challenge
Before SmartSteward, infection control teams in skilled nursing facilities relied on manual tracking, spreadsheets, and retrospective reporting to manage infections.
Nurses lacked real time visibility into how infections were spreading within a facility. Infection control reports were time consuming to compile, and facilities had limited tools to proactively identify trends, isolate patients, or adjust antibiotic usage to reduce resistance.
These gaps increased the risk of outbreaks and made it difficult to prevent antimicrobial resistance from advancing inside facilities.
The Outcome
After the SmartSteward platform was implemented, nurses could track infections in real time as they occurred within the facility.
The platform allowed infection control nurses to visualize infection patterns, map bacteria across units, and quickly isolate affected patients. Antibiograms were analyzed to support antibiotic rotation and reduce the risk of resistance. Monthly infection control reports could be generated with a single click, significantly reducing administrative effort.
Facilities where the product was tested saw a significant reduction in reported infections after adopting the platform.
How We Helped
Onward Development partnered with the founding physician to translate clinical insight into a scalable digital health product.
We designed the initial product roadmap, created prototypes, and developed the full platform used in pilot facilities. Our team built tools that aligned with real nursing workflows while enabling advanced infection tracking, visualization, and reporting.
We also supported SmartSteward's path to market readiness, helping position the product for successful fundraising through IndieBio.
Key Outcomes
Took the product from concept to production ready platform
Enabled real time infection tracking within skilled nursing facilities
Provided visual mapping of bacteria spread across facilities
Supported antibiotic rotation through antibiogram analysis
Reduced time required to prepare infection control reports
Demonstrated measurable reductions in reported infections
Supported fundraising through acceptance into IndieBio
Technology Stack
Application Type
HIPAA-compliant web based healthcare application
Infrastructure
AWS
Backend
Ruby on Rails
Visualization
Data visualization and mapping tools
Analytics
Analytics for infection and antibiogram analysis
Reporting
Reporting and export functionality