Mobile App Using Texting for Diabetes Management

Make sure to read this article on HealthITBuzz titled, "New Mobile App Will Use Texting for Diabetes Management." The new mobile health initiative includes: the American Diabetes Association (ADA), two Beacon Communities (New Orleans and Detroit), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and Voxiva (a mobile technology company).

Here's a snippet from the blog post:

SMS-Based Health Risk Assessment – Connecting Patients to Doctors

The campaign will make a texting-based risk assessment available to anyone with a cell phone, promoting the access number through traditional public health channels.

Here’s how it works:

1. Through their cell phones, individuals will be asked brief questions that assess their risk for diabetes. The user would answer these questions by sending a text.
2. Based on their responses to this text-based assessment, individuals will be connected with the best possible resources for their needs. This may be an online social forum, a discount for a check-up at a local pharmacy, or the phone number for a local health care provider.

The beauty of using mobile technology in this way is that it allows engagement with a much larger population than the health system can manage on its own, while simultaneously tailoring information and resources to the individual.

Read the full story here.