[December 01, 2011]

Santech Selected by San Diego Beacon Community for SMS Messaging to Improve Immunization Rates

The San Diego Beacon Community (SDBC), announced today that it has selected Santech to deploy its SanText™ SMS platform to improve immunization rates through text message communication. In conjunction with Community Health Clinics throughout San Diego County and the San Diego County Immunization Registry, those responsible for scheduling the child's immunizations will receive a combination of education, appointment scheduling and appointment reminder messages concerning the child's immunization. The content of the messages will depend upon the appointment and immunization status. The efficacy of text messages to improve immunization rates will be evaluated through a randomized control trial of approximately 600 participants.

San Diego is one of only 17 communities across the country chosen as a Beacon community to lead the nation in advancing health IT. The SDBC was awarded a three-year, $15.3 million federal grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) - to spur improvements in the community by fostering innovation and adoption of health IT.

The Santech SanText™ platform offers the features needed to support public health engagement including personalization, multiple languages, interactivity and integration with clinics and public health records. Once enrolled, participants will receive messages aimed at scheduling and completing the child's 15 and 18 month immunizations. The San Diego County Immunization Registry will be used to determine whether the child's immunizations are up-to-date and Clinic scheduling systems will be used to determine the need for appointment reminders. "Immunization rates drop significantly after 12 months of age," said Ted Chan, MD, the San Diego Beacon Colaborative Principal Investigator. "Text messaging has the potential to make substantial improvements given its reach and interactivity. We selected Santech's SanText™ platform to support our text messaging initiatives based upon its flexibility, capabilities and connections to substantially all cell phone carriers."

"We are honored to be partnered with the San Diego Beacon Community and to support improving public health through text messaging," said John Fessler, CEO, Santech, Inc. "We look forward to helping the San Diego Beacon Community fulfill their mission and improve immunization rates throughout San Diego County."

About San Diego Beacon Community

San Diego is one of 17 communities nationwide selected by the Federal Government to lead the nation in improving health care through innovations in health information technology (health IT). The San Diego Beacon Community (SDBC), a collaborative whose federal funds are currently managed through the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), is a cooperative agreement to improve patient care, safety and efficiency through health IT in San Diego.

The collaborative represents a wide variety of organizations including American Medical Response, Children's Primary Care Medical Group, Council of Community Clinics, County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties, Kaiser Permanente, Naval Medical Center San Diego, Palomar Pomerado Health, Rural/Metro Ambulance, San Diego County Medical Society, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, San Diego Fire-Rescue, San Diego Immunization Registry, Scripps Health, Sharp (News - Alert) Community Medical Group, Sharp HealthCare, Tri-City Medical Center, UC San Diego Health System and the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

The SDBC also collaborates with the California Health Information Partnership & Services Organization, the local Regional Extension Center that is supported by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. For more information about the San Diego Beacon Community visit http://sandiegobeacon.org.

About Santech, Inc. Santech seeks to improve health through the use of mobile technology and behavioral science. Products include SanText™, a personalized, intelligent SMS messaging platform that is used for a number of health improvement applications. More information can be found at www.santechhealth.com.

Santech was founded by internationally recognized experts in mobile health technology, physical activity and behavior change. These include Kevin Patrick, MD, MS, Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine at the UCSD School of Medicine and Director of the Center for Wireless Population Health Systems at Calit2; James Sallis, PhD, Director of Active Living Research, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and also a Professor in UCSD's School of Medicine; and Karen Calfas, PhD, Vice Chancellor for Wellness at UCSD.

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