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Best Practices for Using SMS Messaging to Increase the Efficiency of Your Practice

Posted by Trumpia on Sep 16, 2011

What Health Care Providers Should Know About Social and Mobile Strategies
Healthcare institutions, independent physicians associations and doctors’ offices are realizing the operational efficiencies that social and mobile technologies can provide. More and more patients are hoping to better engage with their doctors using the Internet, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as mobile text marketing strategies.

A recent survey by Frost and Sullivan and iHT2, Social Media Use in U.S. Healthcare Provider Institutions, reveals that there is an enormous opportunity that exists for providers to harness the power of social media to create – and monitor – communities that strengthen the institution’s reputation and empower patients with information that leads to more efficient healthcare decisions.

And according to a recent report by IDC Health Insights, Borders Bookstores Closing Yields Lessons for Healthcare Organizations by Lynne Dunbrack, program director for Connected Health IT, it's clear that consumers value convenience, whether it's the ability to order or read a book online, or receive medical care on demand and online.

To stay competitive and offer the access that today’s patients desire in this changing landscape of healthcare and technology, here are a few best practices for physicians and other medical practitioners to consider:
Use SMS Text Messaging for Appointment Reminders. Instead of using valuable staff time to make phone calls, you can increase efficiencies in your office and reach your patients in a less intrusive way with SMS and MMS text appointment reminders. To keep your practice on solid financial footing, you need to rely on patients to keep their appointments. By using bulk sms messaging solutions to send out reminders to patients on the day before their appointments, you’ll turn a time and cost-intensive process into an affordable and automated one.

Send Out an Email Newsletter that Offers Useful Information – Not to Be Mistaken for Medical Advice, of Course. Your patients want to connect with you for more than just their appointments. They want to have access to information that can help them take preventative measures and learn the basics to staying healthy. Frequently asked questions like, how much sleep do I really need or what is the best source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids, can be answered in your monthly newsletter. Email campaigns can go a long way – especially among some baby boomers who might prefer email over text messaging.

Develop a presence on Social Media Sites. Create a branded Twitter and Facebook page. Post links to your blog articles that cover health tips and other useful topics on your Facebook page. By making your patients feel that you are taking care of their overall well-being, you will build better relationships with them and improve the delivery of your healthcare services.

Give Patients the Latest Scoop with a Coordinated, Cross-Channel Messaging Campaign. For example, parents who want to understand the different pediatric dental care milestones -- for which they should be looking out -- will welcome your updates across a variety of channels ranging from email and SMS messages to IM and Facebook posts.

When it comes to healthcare, the privacy of patient data is and will continue to be of particularly important concern. But with every passing day that goes by, technology is evolving at a rapid pace with the use of social and mobile strategies. Health care practitioners at both large and small organizations have a lot to gain from delivering the kind of on-demand information that patients seek while still taking patient privacy into account.

Using an opt-in permission based All-In-One Multi-Channel Marketing platform like Trumpia, which integrates SMS text messaging, IM, email, voice broadcast and social media messaging, you’ll be able to affordably and securely bring the newest technologies to your practice – all the while earning greater trust and respect from your patients.

Topics: Healthcare SMS

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