Efficacy of Mobile Phone SMS Reminder for Increasing the Patient Follow-Up Consultation Visits in OPD Clinics

Ayesha Sabah; Asif Khaliq; Ebad Ur Rehman Ghouri

Efficacy of Mobile Phone SMS Reminder for Increasing the Patient Follow-Up Consultation Visits in OPD Clinics

J Pak Med Assoc. 2019 Jul;69(7):964-967.

Authors

Ayesha Sabah¹, Asif Khaliq², Ebad Ur Rehman Ghouri³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health and Hospital Management, Institute of Business Management,Karachi, Pakistan.
² Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.

PMID: 31308563

Abstract

Objective: To measure the effect of mobile phone Short Message Service reminder on the followup rate among patients visiting outpatient clinics.

Methods: The quasi-experimental study was conducted from September to November 2016 in three outpatient clinics of Saima General Hospital, Karachi. The intervention used was consultation follow upreminderuing Short Message Service. SPSS 1 9 was used for data analysis .

Results: Of the 606 subjects, 291(48%) visited the clinics in the pre intervention phase, and 315(52%) in the post-intervention phase. Of the former, 200(70%) patients adhered to the follow-up, while post-intervention adherence went up to 256(81%) (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Using Short Message Service for reminders increased the follow-up rate.

Keywords: Mobile phone, SMS, Profitability, Clinics, Patient compliance.

MeSH terms

Aftercare*
Ambulatory Care*
Appointments and Schedules*
Chronic Disease
Humans
Pakistan
Patient Compliance*
Physical Therapy Modalities
Prenatal Care
Reminder Systems*
Text Messaging*