SMS in Health

Doctors Want Ban Lifted on Mobiles in Hospitals - 2 July 2004

Doctors have called for mobile phone bans in hospitals to be lifted, reports This is London via Techdirt and the BBC.

"Nearly all hospitals ban the phones on the grounds that the radiowaves they emit affect equipment such as heart monitors and ventilators.

But new research shows there is no danger. Today the British Medical Association conference will vote on a motion stating hospitals would benefit from replacing the current bleeper system with mobiles.

In some countries mobiles are often used in hospitals, even in intensive care. Mr Minkoff said communication in hospitals was slow, with bleepers telling doctors little about the urgency of a call.

The debate at the BMA conference in Llandudno also raises the issue of patients using mobiles. Mr Minkoff suggested having times, such as during visiting hours, when patients could use phones. The Chelsea and Westminster hospital already allows patients to use their phones in some areas".

Text Messages Save Hospital Cash - Feb 9 2004

Sending reminders to patients by text messaging for doctor appointments has not only proven popular and effective but has turned out to be a cost-saving measure for the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in the UK. Patients who skip appointments or fail to cancel them have been costing Norfolk's health service an estimated £1.5 million a year, with close to 30,000 patients not showing up. Since the SMS reminder service has been in place (last Spring), the number of DNAs (Did Not Attend) has been cut by more than half and has saved an estimated £18,000. Evening News 24

Want to Donate Blood? Just SMS - Aug 16 2003

Nothing quite beats the January 2001 campaign by The UK National Blood Service, inviting students to come kiss a vampire (aka Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of TV cult series "Buffy and the Vampires") but the "Be a blood donor, Save a life" campaign launched in Chennai India aims to get donors to sign up by texting in their blood type to a designated short code, according to the The Hindu Business Line.

Text Service Brings Health Message to Youth - July 27 2003

Encouraged by the success of a confidential scheme introduced in February in Melbourn and Harston (UK), South Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust (NHS) has extended it to Linton and Sawston.

By contacting the Health Text-Messaging service anonymously, 11 to 16-year-olds can get advice on sexual health, drugs, alcohol and even relationships, according to Cambridge News.

Other campaigns/health advice text messaging services offered elsewhere:

-- Dare To Say No!: A text messaging campaign launched by the European Union this year, to warn teenagers about the dangers related to smoking and tobacco. Launched April 1st in most European countries, it will continue until 2004.

-- SMS campaign against cannabis: The British Lung Foundation (BLF) sent out 30,000 texts messages early March, to young adults to raise awareness that smoking cannabis can be harfmul to their health.

-- A French government ministry, La Mission Interministrielle de lutte contre la drogue et la toxicomanie en France (Mildt), sent out 20'000 SMS last Spring, inviting young people to visit their website on drugs and alcohol prevention.

-- Wired report how a wireless service in Singapore (where mobile penetration is greater than 75 percent - it's 51 percent in the US) encouraged young citizens to talk about sex last Fall, in a Sex in the Air campaign initiated by Action for AIDS. The service encourages subscribers to send sex-related questions by SMS to an international panel of doctors and health educators, with answered returned within 48 hours.
 

Pollen Count Text Alerts - May 4 2003

Leading pharmaceutical company Novartis are offering a Pollen Count text alert service to promote the launch of a new allergy nasal spray (Aller-eze) for hay fever sufferers, during National Allergy Week 2003 (12-18 May) in England.

According 160characters.org, the Pollen-Count Alert text message service enables sufferers to receive personalised, up-to-date, regular pollen count information by SMS with special alerts on days when the pollen count is particularly high in their geographic location - together with tips to help manage hay fever.