Many healthcare facilities are still trying to find the best way possible to manage their patients during the COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, this pandemic has allowed many facilities the opportunity to change their systems to be better prepared for the future. Below are ideas for what SMS messages can do to improve your communication with patients.
Provide Patient Education
During a pandemic, it is essential to keep interactions with patients limited. However, it is still important to share information with them and educate them on their medications, future appointments, post-discharge care, etc. What SMS messages can do is provide a channel to speak with patients without having them come into the office. You can share information regarding their care without the risk of exposure to anyone involved.
Additionally, there are some instances where a full visit is not necessary, but you may still need to relay information to the patient. SMS messages can allow you to reach your patient quickly.
Spend Less Time Trying To Reach Patients
Although there are some instances where a phone call may be appropriate, SMS messaging provides a quick and easy way to get in contact with your patients. The majority of the population will open and respond to a text within 3 minutes of receiving it.
With this in mind, you can be reassured that your message has been received and you can get the responses you need in order to improve the patient’s health outcomes. Whether you need to confirm an appointment, send a post-discharge survey, or need to send test results, communication between patient and doctor is made easier with SMS messages.
HIPAA-Compliant Chat Features
Not all SMS messaging platforms are meant to communicate with patients in healthcare. It is important to find a HIPAA-compliant system that keeps your patient’s information secure.
This feature can also benefit friends and family members of the patient. For example, during the COVID-19 outbreak, patient visitations were limited. SMS messaging can provide a way to share updates with approved friends and family members.
Understanding Your Patients
According to MedlinePlus, effective communication with patients includes assessing their needs, concerns, preferences, support, and limitations. What SMS messages can do in this situation is they can help you determine whether a patient has additional questions or needs follow up support. During the COVID-19 outbreak, it was harder to know what a patient needed because there was limited face-to-face interaction. By providing that interaction through SMS messaging, you can make sure that your patient’s health is taken care of.
What SMS Messages Can Do For You
Because SMS messaging is one of the easiest ways to get in contact with your patients, we at Notivate health have made this communication a priority. Many of our applications include communication features to build trust with your patients.
For example, some of our applications include:
- Text messages to follow up with patients, answer questions, send reminders, and send test results
- Allowing the patient to send pictures to better assess their conditions
- Sending surveys
- Automated waitlist-filling process
- Secure, HIPAA-compliant chat
- EPIC integration to keep friends and family informed
- Mass communication messages to spread information to all of your patients
If you want to see these features in action and what SMS messages could do to improve your patient communication, you can request a demo here.
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