Aeglero
An EMR platform with a focus on post-traumatic event mental health, born from the need to better support students in crisis. Aeglero combines patient mental health tracking, provider monitoring tools, and healthcare data management to help identify and support at-risk individuals before situations escalate. This platform demonstrates my understanding of EMR systems, HIPAA compliance requirements, cloud infrastructure, and data analysis in healthcare settings.
From Crisis to Innovation
April 17th, 2025 - 11:57 AM
A 20-year-old FSU student aimed his handgun and fired his first shots outside the student union at Florida State University.
April 17th, 2025 - 12:00 PM
The suspect was shot by officers and taken into custody. Although only three minutes had passed, two were dead and six more were injured. But hundreds more were left traumatized, seeking answers and support.
April 18th, 2025
I saw a news notice about the incident. Curious for more details, I visited the school's Reddit page and was struck by the amount of comments from students who had nowhere to go to express their concerns or seek help emotionally. The community's pain and the desperate need for better mental health resources resonated with me.
April 19th, 2025
With this tragedy fresh in mind, I participated in my school's hackathon. Our team developed the initial version of what would become Aeglero. A student mental health monitoring application designed to help counselors and advisors identify at-risk students before crisis situations develop.
The prototype featured daily mood tracking, journal entries, and an advisor dashboard that could flag students showing concerning patterns. We built it using React, Flask, and PostgreSQL, deployed via Docker containers on Railway.
Present Day - Evolution to Healthcare IT Platform
The mental health app has evolved into a comprehensive healthcare IT platform. I recognized that the core challenge wasn't just mental health tracking—it was healthcare data management, secure storage, HIPAA compliance, and seamless integration with existing healthcare systems.
Aeglero now serves as my learning laboratory for understanding Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems, healthcare compliance requirements, cloud infrastructure, and the technical challenges faced by health organizations.
Technical Architecture & Implementation
Frontend Layer - Patient & Provider Interfaces
Technologies: React 18, Vite, HeroUI Component Library, Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion
- Student Portal: Multi-step form with mood tracking slider, color selection for emotional states, and image-based emotion recognition
- Advisor Dashboard: Real-time student monitoring, graph visualization for trend analysis, search functionality (by name, date, score), and priority flagging system
- Accessibility Features: Responsive design, smooth animations for reduced cognitive load, and intuitive navigation patterns
Backend Layer - API & Business Logic
Technologies: Flask (Python), SQLAlchemy ORM, RESTful API Design
- Authentication System: Secure login for students and advisors with session management
- Data Models: Advisor-Student relationships (1:N), MoodSubmissions, FormSubmissions, and daily Score calculations
- API Endpoints: Student mood submission, advisor dashboard data retrieval, search/filter functionality, graph data aggregation
- Score Service: Automated calculation combining mood metrics and journal sentiment analysis
Database Layer - Healthcare Data Management
Technologies: PostgreSQL, SQLAlchemy Migrations, Relational Database Design
- Schema Design: Normalized database structure with proper foreign key constraints and unique constraints (student_id + date)
- Data Integrity: Server-side timestamps, data validation, and relationship management
- Performance: Indexed queries for fast retrieval, pagination support for large datasets
- Healthcare Considerations: Structured for future HIPAA compliance with audit trails and data retention policies
Infrastructure & DevOps
Technologies: Docker, Docker Compose, Railway Platform, Nginx, Git Version Control
- Containerization: Dockerized frontend and backend for consistent deployment across environments
- Development Workflow: Hot-reload enabled for rapid iteration, separate dev and production configurations
- CI/CD: Automated builds and deployments through Railway platform integration
- Version Control: Git with pull request workflow for team collaboration and code review
Healthcare IT Competencies Developed
Building Aeglero has given me hands-on experience with the technical challenges and requirements specific to healthcare IT systems:
EMR/EHR System Understanding
Gained practical knowledge of electronic medical record architecture, patient data models, provider workflows, and the importance of data interoperability (HL7, FHIR standards awareness).
HIPAA Compliance Awareness
Understanding of Protected Health Information (PHI) handling requirements, encryption standards, access controls, audit logging, and the technical safeguards necessary for healthcare applications.
Healthcare Data Analytics
Experience with patient data visualization, trend analysis, risk stratification (identifying high-priority patients), and creating actionable insights for healthcare providers.
Clinical Workflow Design
Designed interfaces and processes that support real clinical workflows. Student check-ins, provider monitoring, intervention triggers—mirroring behavioral health treatment paradigms.
Database Design for Healthcare
Created relational database schemas optimized for healthcare use cases: patient-provider relationships, time-series health data, audit trails, and data retention policies.
Cloud Healthcare Solutions
Learning AWS services for healthcare (HIPAA-eligible configurations), understanding the BAA (Business Associate Agreement) requirements, and cloud security best practices.
Industry Inspiration & Research
Throughout this project, I've studied leading healthcare IT systems to understand industry best practices and technical approaches:
Epic Systems
Researched Epic's comprehensive EMR architecture, particularly their MyChart patient portal design, provider workflow optimization, and integration capabilities with third-party healthcare applications. Epic's approach to handling complex patient data relationships and real-time clinical decision support influenced Aeglero's dashboard design.
Kipu Health (Behavioral Health EMR/EHR)
Studied Kipu's specialized approach to behavioral health and addiction treatment documentation. Their patient progress tracking, outcome measurement tools, and compliance management features directly align with Aeglero's mental health monitoring capabilities. Understanding Kipu's AWS-based infrastructure has informed my cloud migration planning.
Cerner (Oracle Health)
Analyzed Cerner's interoperability standards and API-first approach to healthcare data exchange. Their focus on population health management and data analytics dashboards influenced how I designed Aeglero's multi-student comparison features and risk stratification logic.
Impact & Future Development
Current Capabilities
- Daily mood and mental health tracking for students
- Comprehensive advisor dashboard with search, filtering, and analytics
- Risk stratification to identify students needing intervention
- Multi-student comparative analysis and trend visualization
- Secure data storage with relational database integrity
- Containerized deployment for easy scaling
Roadmap: Production-Ready Healthcare Platform
- AWS Infrastructure Migration: Lambda functions, RDS, S3, Cognito authentication, CloudFormation/Terraform IaC
- HIPAA Compliance Implementation: End-to-end encryption, comprehensive audit logging, PHI handling procedures, BAA compliance
- AI-Powered Insights: Integrate natural language processing for journal entry sentiment analysis, predictive analytics for early intervention, and automated risk scoring
- Interoperability: HL7 FHIR API implementation for integration with existing EMR/EHR systems
- Mobile Application: React Native mobile app for improved accessibility and push notification support
- Advanced Analytics: Population health dashboards, outcome measurement tracking, customizable reporting
- Enhanced Security: Multi-factor authentication, IP whitelisting, advanced threat detection
Why This Project Matters
Aeglero represents more than a technical project. It's become a commitment to addressing a critical gap in student mental health support. The FSU tragedy that inspired this project is not isolated; campus mental health crises are increasingly common, yet many institutions lack the technological infrastructure to proactively identify and support at-risk students.
By building this platform, I'm developing the exact skills needed to work in healthcare IT. Understanding both the technical requirements (cloud infrastructure, data security, API development) and the clinical context (mental health workflows, risk assessment, provider needs). This positions me to contribute meaningfully to organizations like Kipu Health that are transforming behavioral healthcare through technology.