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Texting May Have a Role in Managing Rheumatology Patients

  |  Issue: September 2012  |  

Thomas Geppert, MD, a rheumatologist at Rheumatology Associates in Dallas, says he uses a system in which his patients can reach him by e-mail, which he says is more efficient than the telephone.

He says he can imagine using text messaging for weekly or monthly reminders, but not for daily medications.

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“One of the problems we have is the privacy laws,” he says. “Having to put a password on the system makes it harder for patients to use it, and many of them choose not to use it. It seems like a small thing, but the extra steps involved make it cumbersome for older patients and they are easily scared off.”

Thomas Collins is a freelance medical writer based in Florida.

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References

  1. Hughes LD, Done J, Young A. Not 2 old 2 TXT: There is potential to use email and SMS text message healthcare reminders for rheumatology patients up to 65 years old. Health Informatics J. 2011;17:266-276.
  2. Car J, Gurol-Urganci I, de Jongh T, Vodopivec-Jamsek V, Atun R. Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Jul 11;7:CD007458.
  3. Ríos-Bedoya CF, Hay C. Feasibility of using text messaging for unhealthy behaviors screening in a clinical setting: A case study on adolescent hazardous alcohol use. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2012 Jul 3. [Epub ahead of print]

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