By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    medicare part d benefits
    Everything that You Need to Know About Medicare Part D
    August 15, 2022
    Best Ways to Boost Your Immune System this Winter
    Best Ways to Boost Your Immune System this Winter
    November 15, 2022
    back pain issues
    Ways to Treat Constant Back Pain
    August 21, 2023
    Latest News
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    More On Wellness Programs To Improve Health and Reduce Costs
    January 25, 2012
    Privatizing Social Security and Medicare: Who Can Defuse Political Dynamite?
    June 12, 2011
    Study: Risk of Death in Elderly Patients with Dementia Doubled with Some Antipsychotic Medications
    February 26, 2012
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Text Messaging Works Well For Patient Communications
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Mobile Health > Text Messaging Works Well For Patient Communications
Mobile Health

Text Messaging Works Well For Patient Communications

ShahidShah
ShahidShah
Share
7 Min Read
SHARE

    With the mobile and tablet frenzy at a fevered pitch, most of us technical folks end up thinking that the best way to reach patients is through the most expensive means possible (a high end PC, a tablet, a smart phone, etc.) because those are the devices we’re using all the time, too. However, sometimes (maybe more often than not), simple text messaging to feature phones and smart phones may be the best option. I don’t think that personalizing healthcare always need expensive devices so I reached out to Cliff Haas, Sr. Director of Connectivity and Partner Management North America at Clickatell, to “talk tech” about how personalized mobile messaging can become a new horizon in healthcare and show us how it’s done (including some sample code). Here’s what Cliff shared: Personalized text messaging in healthcare is the new antidote to healthcare costs, patient waiting times and patient’s general health maintenance, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute. The reasons for the success of this new communication medium are clear. Statistics show that a staggering 71% of the global population or 5.3 billion people own a mobile handset*, in contrast, only 2 billion people are connected to the Internet**. The store and forward nature of messaging makes this medium more convenient than a voice call and it is also far less intrusive than having to accept or return a phone cal. This convenience gives patients the ability to read messages in privacy at a suitable time. Benefits for all Perhaps the greatest advantage to implementing an SMS-based solution in healthcare is that the benefits are realized by both the patient as well as the health care provider. Healthcare Provider Healthcare providers have a need to keep their overheads low while maintaining exceptionally high standards in the service they provide. This is not an easy task in any environment. If we look at the effort it takes for a medical group to manage a schedule of daily appointments, the cost can be considerable. The salary for a Medical Receptionist is approximately $30,000.00 annually. The responsibilities for the position are broad. A quick internet search shows the following:

Medical Secretaries Perform secretarial duties utilizing specific knowledge of medical terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures. Duties include scheduling appointments, billing patients, and compiling and recording medical charts, reports, and correspondence. Front Desk/Receptionists, Medical or Dental Office Answer phones in a medical / dental office. Schedule appointments and maintain schedule book. Take payments and co-payments from patients. Collect insurance information.” (www.payscale.com)

Now consider how a well implemented messaging integration platform could provide an automated solution to many of these functions, which in turn frees the healthcare professional to tend to other responsibilities. Messages could be used to:

  • Send reminders to patients, advising of their forthcoming appointments
  • Accept responses to verify the patients availability
  • Send reminders to bring updated insurance information
  • Send billing reminders
  • Send follow-up messages to assure customer satisfaction
  • Notify or remind patient of health care regiment protocol or protocol changes.
  • Notify the availability of test results

Patient The patient expects to receive top-grade service from their healthcare provider. In part, this means receiving timely information while avoiding being a nuisance, not an easy task. Patients receiving messages as stated above are able to effectively communicate with their healthcare provider in a far less intrusive manner than a voice call and can do so while maintaining their busy lifestyle. Making it work isn’t brain surgery Fortunately, SMS integration into the healthcare providers practice can be very easy. If you have the flexibility to try a new application in your office, you could reach out to an SMS solution provider such as Clickatell for guidance on where to find the best application for your requirements. Alternatively you might have a CRM or scheduling application that is deeply embedded within your business. In this case you can take advantage of the API sets made available to developers. Clickatell and similar vendors offer a wide variety of API types and XML would be a great candidate for this use.See how messaging works – click the picture below for a larger version: If you decide you are going to integrate at an API level, you will need to have an account with a provider such as Clickatell. Once you have that account you will use the assigned credentials to populate an XML over HTTP Post through your application.

 1 demo demo 123456567890123 Initial text message me 

For the sake of this example, you may have a client for scheduling or CRM built on Microsoft Access. This allows HTTP posting of the XML formatted data from the application.

More Read

Most Patients Want to Self-Manage Healthcare Online
Top 10 iPhone Apps that Doctors and Medical Students Can Rely On
How Can an Android Development Company Make a Difference to Hospitals?
Mobile Health Around the Globe: Ghana – Changing the Very Essence of Healthcare
Mobile Health Around the Globe: Barcelona – Mobile World Capital
Public Function fcSend(strRequestXML As String) Dim objXMLHttp, sResponse Set objXMLHttp = CreateObject("MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP") objXMLHttp.Open "POST", strAPIUrl, False objXMLHttp.setRequestHeader "Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" objXMLHttp.send ("qf=xml&xml=" & URLEncode(strRequestXML)) If objXMLHttp.Status = 200 Then sResponse = objXMLHttp.responseText End If Set objXMLHttp = Nothing fcSend = sResponse End Function Function URLEncode(strData) Dim I, strTemp, strChar, strOut, intAsc strTemp = Trim(strData) For I = 1 To Len(strTemp) strChar = Mid(strTemp, I, 1) intAsc = Asc(strChar) If (intAsc >= 48 And intAsc <= 57) Or (intAsc >= 97 And intAsc <= 122) Or (intAsc >= 65 And intAsc <= 90) Then strOut = strOut & strChar Else strOut = strOut & "%" & Hex(intAsc) End If Next URLEncode = strOut End Function 

Your next step These are just examples of how SMS messaging can be used to provide the Healthcare industry with an easy-to-use solution to common business demands. You can find additional use case examples, supporting statistics and technical guidance at www.clickatell.com or ask questions as comments below.

TAGGED:mobile healthtext messaging
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025
a woman giving a key
How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
Health
July 16, 2025
a woman with kinesio tapes on her back arm
How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

Telemedicine
BusinessMedical DevicesMobile HealthNewsTechnology

Video:Telemedicine on the Frontier

April 21, 2012
Image
eHealthHome HealthMedical InnovationsMobile HealthNews

The Hospital of the Future – Your Living Room!!

October 3, 2012
pricewaterhousecooper privacy healthcare
BusinesseHealthMobile HealthPolicy & LawTechnology

Mobile Health and Data Safety: Convenience vs. Privacy

May 14, 2015

Sign Posts on the Road to Connected Health Adoption

March 6, 2015
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?