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For the last few years, digital transformation has been the mantra for healthcare-related organizations of all types. Whether it’s for the discovery of novel drugs, streamlined operations or better patient outcomes, the term digital transformation is often coupled with images of AI-powered holograms, cyborg surgeons and autonomous patient care. However, the real innovation is happening right now with technologies that already exist.
Although it isn’t as futuristic as a cyborg surgeon, text messaging platforms designed for specific health industry use cases are becoming an important part of digital transformation. The reason being, text messaging has one of the highest adoption rates of any technology currently available. This makes it a universal, reliable way for organizations to reach internal teams, healthcare providers, patients and other stakeholders.
Patient care is one area where text messaging is starting to boom. In December, MedCity News reported that primary care company Curai Health raised $27.5 million in funding for its text-based platform. The Palo Alto-based startup currently offers text-based services that enable patients to chat with available healthcare providers anytime about an urgent health concern, or with the same physician across multiple visits. In the era of Covid-19, where not everyone has access to a computer or video conferencing solution, Curai’s platform is the perfect solution for improving access to care.
Life Sciences, A Complex Industry With A Variety Of Use Cases
In addition to patient engagement for healthcare providers, text messaging is also being used by life sciences organizations for things like sales training, physician engagement and patient education. Arist, developers of an enterprise-level text messaging platform with clients including DuPont and the State of California, says that its technology has been optimized to better meet the needs of the life sciences industry. Its platform enables life sciences organizations to send fully customizable, templated text messages and other digital assets to recipients for a variety of uses.
“We have experienced significant demand for our text messaging platform within the life sciences industry,” stated Arist co-founder and CEO Michael Ioffe. “To better support our life sciences customers, we have updated our platform with enhanced features that enable them to deliver compliant text messages and other digital assets for a wide variety of use cases. Employee onboarding, physician education, sales training, patient outreach and medication adherence are just a few of the ways life sciences companies are utilizing our technology.”
With Arist, pharmaceutical sales representatives and medical science liaisons can send compliant text messages directly to healthcare professionals without the need for downloads or subscriptions. And for sales training and corporate learning initiatives, Arist’s text message courses offer an effective solution by breaking down subjects into easily digestible concepts and case studies. This is a better alternative to video and digital courses, which are expensive and time-consuming to build. As such, text messaging is proving to be an effective way to quickly onboard and train employees, especially when it comes to new products.
Text Messaging Shows Promise For Medication Adherence
According to Ioffe, medication adherence is another area where Arist’s platform is showing promise.
“Adherence to long-term therapies in chronic disease is extremely poor,” stated Ioffe. “Traditional interventions for improving adherence are complex and not widely used. However, text messaging is proving to be an effective way to support patient education and medication adherence.”
Recent research supports this by highlighting the fact that text messaging nearly doubles the odds of medication adherence. This is especially important for those working in the area of specialized therapeutics. Roughly 125,000 unnecessary deaths occur each year in the United States because patients don’t follow treatment protocols. Nonadherence rates can be greatly diminished when those responsible for adherence leverage platforms like Arist.
What makes text messaging so powerful is that recipients open and read them. According to research, text message open rates are as high as 98%, compared to just 20% for email. This makes text messaging one of the most efficient ways for life sciences organizations to effectively communicate with employees, medical professionals, patients and important stakeholders without impacting resources.
Direct-to-consumer Medical Labs Rely On Text Messaging
Text messaging is also being integrated into technology platforms that offer broader functionality. LigoLab, a developer of software technology for medical labs, has included text messaging within the workflow of TestDirectly, its new direct-to-consumer portal for Covid-19 testing, and other medical tests.
According to Suren Avunjian, CEO of LigoLab, “text messaging is an important part of how communication is handled within the TestDirectly platform. After self-registering for a test, the patient receives text messages that confirm the order and the appointment, as well as text appointment reminders. When ready, the patient is notified to check the test results via another automated text message.”
TestDirectly was created to help facilitate safe, fast, and easy specimen collection, processing, and reporting for Covid-19. The platform covers the entire testing lifecycle, increasing accessibility and eliminating risks of exposure for patients and healthcare providers. The TestDirectly platform supports a nationwide network of laboratories processing over 200,000 specimens a day with 24-hour turnaround times. Soon, the platform will also support the fast and efficient deployment of vaccines.
As more organizations harness the power of text messaging, we are certain to see more and more use cases for its deployment.
Photo: AntonioGuillem, Getty Images