Health Text alerts service would save patients and country $770 million

A text message system that would integrate notifications regarding medication for patients would greatly reduce the cost of medicine – according to a new study. The study details how receiving a text message, as a notification, to serve as a reminder for the patient to take a particular medicine – would take a great deal of stress off of the health system. They even go as far as to state that ultimately lives would be saved as result of the system.

Researchers from Queen Mary University in London evaluated 300 people who were taking medication for blood pressure and cholesterol. The group was split evenly, and the terms of the study were very simple.

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Half of the participants received a text message to remind them when they needed to take their medication – while the other group did not receive a message. Interestingly, the study noted that 9% of the individuals who were receiving the reminders to take their medication at various times during the day – were actually healthy enough to be taken off the medicine entirely.

Dr. David Wald, a professor and cardiologist with the school noted that “An important and overlooked problem in medicine is the failure to take prescribed medication. The results of this trial show text message reminders help prevent this in a simple and effective way. More than just a reminder, the texts provided a link to identify patients who needed help.”

This particular study only consisted of a small group of people, and respondents but the tests did yield impressive-enough results that the medical world did have its attention grabbed. Now, the next step can be taken – and more large scale research can be conducted to see if similar results are yielded.

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However, while this may be a good system for those who don’t take medications often or regularly enough to have it engrained in their daily lifestyle – excessive messaging has its downfalls. Here are a few side effects of texting just a little too much.

Text Claw is what happens when your fingers begin cramping, and is a medical term, associated with those individuals who have sore muscles from too much scrolling, texting, and gaming. It can react in the same way someone who has sore muscles when waking up.

iPosture or simply a sore neck is what happens when you spend hours, upon hours reading your phone, or hunched over staring at a computer. Ultimately, the excessive strain on the muscles in the neck is what causes this condition.

Computer Vision Syndrome is the result of reading the small print of your screen for a long time. It can lead to eyestrain, dizziness, blurred vision, and dry eyes. They can also cause headaches.

Nomophobia is the fear of being without your smartphone. Believe it or not, a study conducted in the UK found that 66% of people were actually afraid of being without their mobile device. Some people even exhibited physical symptoms of anxiety.

Phantom Pocket Vibration sounds exactly like what you think it is. One study at the University of Indiana noted that 89% of undergrads in her study experienced feelings of their phone vibrating when their device wasn’t even in their pocket.

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  • SMS communication is essential for any organization, especially in health care, where alerts can be immediate. Using mobile phones in health care will definitely cut cost and most importantly, will save lives and improve health care services.