Texting as a tool to improve outcomes and increase practice efficiency

For practices focused on efficiency, a few items frequently top the to-do list: increase patient retention, decrease no-shows and cancellations, and fill open appointment slots.

While nearly every practice uses phones and email, only 68% of practice leaders in a recent MGMA Stat poll reported using what may be the most efficient — and preferred — communication tool of all: text message. Often considered part of a patient relationship management (PRM) technology solution, texting is the most frequently used data service in the U.S. today, and customers — even customers of healthcare — increasingly want their practices to use it. Perhaps surprisingly, patient desire for texting is cross-generational.

This paper, a joint effort between MGMA and Solutionreach, a PRM provider and MGMA partner, looks at some of the data on patient demand for text message solutions, as well as post-implementation results data from practices. Also included: a brief case study on a text message implementation led by former MGMA Board Chairman William Hambsch.