Health care consumers look to SMS

With more than half of the respondents to a recent industry survey on consumer trends in mobile health technology saying they would like to receive healthcare appointment reminders by SMS--and almost as many indicating they'd like routine tests and screening reminders routed directly to their mobile phones--its was just a matter of time until the marketplace heeded the call. One company exploring the possibilities in this area is RememberItNow!, a California-based start-up that's currently beta testing an online personal health care management service designed from the patient's point of view.

Last week, founder and CEO Pamela Swingley told me how her company's forthcoming software has grown out of her own experiences while attempting to manage her father's health care needs--something far too many family members and caregivers are still struggling to manage with traditional notebooks and homemade paper-based chart systems.

By contrast, RememberItNow! is bundling SMS medication reminders, event reminders, a two-way communication feature and the ability to create an interactive private care community into what promises to be an an extremely easy to use health care management tool. Ultimately, Swingley says she could see the software functioning as an add-on to personal health records, like Google Health or Microsoft's Health Vault--or as a front-end component to the EHR. A related iPhone application also is in the works.

The service is expected to go live in January. Right now, the company is actively seeking additional beta testers. For a quick look at the offering, click here. If you'd like to participate as a beta tester, contact the company's marketing manager, Alex Bettencourt.

With SMS text messaging expected to reach 3,200 billion messages per year by 2014, it will be interesting to see how quickly the technology's presence mushrooms, both in the home and at the point of care. Next week, I'll be speaking with a couple surgeons for their take on the growing role of SMS in healthcare.