how messaging in health communication strategies can impact healthcare

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

There are five key ingredients to a population health messaging program delivered via mHealth:

1. Population

2.Message

3. Frequency

4.Message delivery strategy

5.Support and feedback

An SMS messaging program may sound easy, but it’s not without its complexities. Large-scale text messaging programs do require software applications and services that can handle message content and delivery scheduling, not to mention a routing service that can handle many different networks.

In 2013, researchers at the University of Colorado’s Center for Research in Implementation Science and Prevention (CRISP) put out a 42-page research toolkit for text messaging in healthcare.

“SMS messaging application software supports scripting, scheduling, replying, and routing to an SMS gateway based on pre-configured algorithms, thus eliminating the need for an individual to send, monitor, and respond to each text,” the toolkit explains.

“In this process, a sender uses an SMS messaging application to enter necessary data (message script, message sending schedule, messaging algorithms or logic, etc.) An SMS gateway (also known as SMS provider, aggregator, or messaging server) encodes and routes text messages according to the specific requirements of the recipient’s wireless network operator or carrier. Network operators have SMS centers (SMSC) that forward the messages to recipients’ mobile phones. SMS responses are routed back through the same channels.”

From there, the development of a text messaging program can be as simple as a one-direction system for sending reminders of educational information, or as complex as a bidirectional platform that gathers replies — either closed- or open-ended — and triggers additional messages.

Privacy and security are also important factors to consider, particularly when dealing with sensitive health information. Providers have to make sure the information they’re sending is properly encrypted and they have to make sure that participants know what they’re getting and how to shield it from prying eyes. Additionally, target audiences in a messaging program must have a clear mean of opting out of the program. In some cases, instead of having recipients opt out, a provider may want to use an opt-in keyword, requiring users to take action to continue in the program.

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