Text Messaging Viewed as Key for Health Care Information Distribution
Dennis McCafferty | Date: 01-26-10 | Comments: 0
- A CDC pilot program sends the latest H1N1 development news to users via text.
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."
