Success story: SMS reminders in medical centers

In healthcare, effective communication with patients is essential to ensure proper care and improve health outcomes. In this regard, the use of SMS has become an invaluable tool to provide a fast, convenient and efficient communication channel to all users.

The SMS channel is considered to communicate medical appointment reminders. This use improves the relationship with the patient and also generates benefits for the medical center as it considerably reduces no-shows and, if they occur, facilitates the change of appointment by taking advantage of those hours for other patients.

Benefits of using SMS in medical centers:

Reduction of the no-show rate: with SMS, medical centers can send automated reminders that help reduce the rate of no-shows and delays in consultations. This not only improves the efficiency of the medical center, but also enables better time management and more timely care for patients.
Promoting treatment adherence: medical centers can send personalized reminders to patients to take their medications, perform medical tests or follow their therapies, which helps improve treatment adherence and better health outcomes.
Information and education: Text messaging can also be used to send relevant and educational information to patients. Centers can provide health tips, vaccination reminders, healthy lifestyle recommendations.
Fast and efficient communication: In emergency situations or to provide urgent information, SMS is a fast and reliable way to communicate with patients. For example, medical centers can use text messages to notify patients about changes in the schedule of care, medical test results or any other important information that needs to be communicated immediately.

What are the uses of SMS reminders in medical centers?

Medical centers can send text messages to patients to remind them of their scheduled appointment dates and times. This helps reduce no-shows and delays, improving efficiency and timeliness of care.

There are several types of appointment reminder messages:

A first visit
A follow-up visit
Medication intake
Immunizations
Medical tests

Successful case of SMS reminders in a medical center

We present the success story of a LabsMobile customer that thanks to the use of SMS has substantially improved communication with their patients and the entire internal communication process has become more effective.

Challenges prior to SMS implementation

Prior to implementing the use of SMS, the medical center faced several challenges in communicating with patients. The lack of appointment reminders resulted in a high rate of no-shows and delays, which affected physician scheduling and overall care. In addition, the lack of an efficient way to communicate important and educational information to patients hindered health promotion and treatment adherence.

SMS implementation and results

The medical center decided to implement an SMS-based reminder and communication system to address these challenges. Through our SMS messaging platform, an automated system of sending text messages to patients was created.

By implementing the messages, the center improved its absenteeism rate by 30% and increased rescheduling of medical appointments by 20%.

In the past, people either didn’t do it or went in person to change the time or let the appointment go by without notification, which resulted in high no-show rates and unproductive hours. Now, however, it has become more effective:

No-shows have been reduced.
Patients who are unable to attend reschedule their appointments online via a link sent in the same SMS.

Increased productivity and reduced absences

On the other hand, the doctor now has all the hours occupied, since when there are any cancellations, other patients with medical criteria are called to offer them the free hours. Thus, the operation of the clinic is now more efficient with 35% of hours used for patient appointments.

Importantly, this substantial improvement in the operation of this medical center has been achieved by automating its appointment system and communicating reminders via SMS:

Reminders 24 hours before the appointment.
Adding the necessary content: address, day/time, doctor, preparation or instructions for the test or appointment, etc.
Including a link to view all appointment details and the possibility to change or cancel the appointment online.

Examples of SMS reminders

The most commonly used SMS are as follows:

Appointment reminder

ALEX you have an appointment at the Health Center on 31/May/2023 (16:00), Floor 1. C/Suiza n.11. To change or cancel the appointment https://mimedico.com/hYtas62k2

Rescheduling appointments

Dr. Hilari is unable to visit tomorrow 05/25/2023. We will call you to reschedule the visit. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Reminder of patient’s access codes to the Intranet

CLINICA here you have the access data:

USER: 20818647J

PASSWORD: b786ed7853

URL: https://hospitals.com

Reminder of test and analytical indications

You have registered in the PREVECARDIO program, where you will undergo an evaluation of your Cardiovascular risk factors. Please, come to the C.S. LOS CARMENES with at least 6h of fasting, the day 16-01-2023 at 10:30. Thank you very much.

Improve your medical center’s productivity with SMS communication

The use of SMS in medical centers has proven to be an effective strategy to improve communication with patients, reduce absences and improve adherence to treatment.

In addition, text messaging allows for quick and efficient communication, providing relevant information. As technology continues to advance, the use of SMS in healthcare continues to grow, providing benefits for both healthcare professionals and patients.

If you have a medical center or software that manages medical appointments and want to know how you can improve your communication and efficiency, contact us.

LabsMobile offers its platform and SMS channel to improve and optimize any communication process between centers and patients.