The favorite tech toy of teens and tweens is now being deployed more than ever in the health care industry: Texting has emerged as a useful tool for hospital and health authorities—as well as officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—as a means to rapidly inform and update the public about the latest flu outbreaks and other critical health news.

Mobile texting devices, after all, are ubiquitous these days, and that presence essentially creates a de facto global communications network. More than 82 percent of adult Americans own cell phones, and will respond positively to messages that are relevant and timely, according to published industry findings. So an Irvine, Calif.-based company called SmartReply has worked with the CDC and other health organizations to develop new ways to use mobile text messaging to improve communications and spread vital health news. Today, texting "health" to 87000 will get the user updates from the CDC on the latest H1N1 developments to their mobiles. Users can also sign up to receive regular texts from the CDC on H1N1 and other health news.

The CDC/H1N1 mobile pilot program initially rolled out earlier this year. While the CDC indicates that a peak has been reached for flu season, many Americans are still at risk for contracting the illness, and cases of the disease are still rising in Maine, Hawaii and other areas that are more isolated than the rest of the nation.

The CDC has been interested in this kind of technology for more than a year now, having launched its Mobile Health Coalition in July 2008 to work with private industry to come up with ways to better use mobile devices to improve public health and safety.

SmartReply President Eric Holmen and his staff are also developing ways to use mobile devices to improve public health, including applications to better showcase medical applications and deliver emergency treatment. He indicates that text messaging may emerge as the primary tool for doctors and other health care professionals to provide early warnings for communicable diseases, diabetes management, HIV-testing location information, weight management and a host of other wellness-related concerns.

Already, emergency medical services staffers in some communities are using texting devices to send EKG readings and other "vital signs" patient data to hospital emergency rooms before those patients arrive. This allows for faster and more reliable transmission of this often-critical and complex data than the traditional means of calling it in on the phone.

"Text messaging is the only viable interactive means of reaching people on a massive scale around the world," Holmen says. "Mobile is a valuable weapon in the fight against infectious disease. It presents an untapped potential for changing health behaviors."

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