SMS Helps to Deliver Secure, Reliable Communication in Innovative Ways

By TMCnet Special Guest
Rick Ruth, Global Messaging Division Manager Commercial Software Group, TeleCommunication Systems, Inc.

According to The Wharton Journal, outdated communication technologies such as pagers typically cost the average U.S. hospital more than $10 million each year, with the average doctor wasting more than 45 minutes each day waiting for a notification that a patient’s updated information is available. In today’s always-connected world, healthcare organizations can no longer afford such inefficient technology.

Healthcare organizations are increasingly interested in deploying Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging because it is a faster, easier and more cost-efficient way to reach broad or targeted groups of individuals. A Health IT survey by the Case Management Society of America found that 14 percent of health care practitioners used text messaging in 2012 to communicate with patients, and 29 percent expect to use text messaging in patient communications in 2014.

Advancing to Meet New Needs

SMS technology, introduced in the 1980’s, is able to deliver significant cost savings and improved communications efficiency for organizations across the healthcare ecosystem. As technology and patient needs evolve, SMS is taking on new roles due to its proven reliability.

Hospitals, doctors’ offices, and pharmacies are beginning to integrate text-messaging capabilities into their business strategies. If medical providers send text messages as appointment reminders to their patients, they can reduce no-shows by up to 30 percent when reminders are sent, according to Provider-specific studies from Johns Hopkins and the University of Rochester.

Messages also can be sent to notify patients about prescription refills, appointment wait times, or pertinent announcements such as upcoming smoking cessation classes or blood drives.  Furthermore, as the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend gains ground in the healthcare field, SMS offers a simple and low-cost way to instantly reach individuals when needed, through their personal devices.  Doctors and clinicians can be quickly contacted via SMS if they want to move away from traditional paging systems.

The resulting benefits of enhanced communication are critical for keeping the business competitive:

Improved quality of care for the patient

Better patient outcomes

Increased productivity and workflow efficiency

Enhanced information at the point of care

Improved and integrated communication between healthcare providers and patients

It is crucial that healthcare organizations investigating SMS systems look for a provider with a proven track record and a significant volume of message delivery annually. These providers also should have established relationships with the major wireless carriers to ensure a successful deployment. In addition, providers need integration and inter-carrier capabilities, and they should have secure and encrypted options to meet HIPPAA and HITECH standards. 

Healthcare organizations of all sizes are realizing process efficiencies and cost savings by leveraging SMS technology to expedite and enhance communication with caregivers and patients.  When choosing a provider it will be important to ensure they are able to support a wide variety of protocols to integrate into existing IT infrastructure.  This will simplify the integration process and shorten the deployment timeline thus saving the healthcare organization time and money.

Bio:

Rick Ruth, Global Messaging Division Manager, Commercial Software Group

[email protected]

As Global Messaging Division Manager, Rick Ruth is responsible for TeleCommunication Systems’ (News - Alert) Commercial Messaging Products, including the SMSC service, Cloud Messaging, Enterprises Messaging Gateway, and Mobile Alert Solutions (MAS).  He has over 20 years of experience in product marketing and business development.  Prior to joining TCS, he was the General Manager of Business Development for PowerNet Global (News - Alert) Communications, where he developed strategic business relationships with carriers, MSOs, DSL aggregators and field installation providers to enable the sales and deployment of next-generation services. Prior to that, he held product management and business development positions at Cincinnati Bell (News - Alert) Telephone and Cincinnati Bell Wireless. Mr. Ruth attended Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.

(source: http://www.healthtechzone.com/topics/healthcare/articles/2013/11/21/361038-sms-helps-deliver-secure-reliable-communication-innovative-ways.htm)