by Vinitha Ramnathan

If the healthcare industry often seems like it shares an affinity for unabashed relentlessness in common with the Energizer Bunny, it’s not by mistake. Literally billions of lives depend daily on the ceaseless contributions of healthcare professionals and their organizations. No matter what obstacles they encounter, healthcare providers never stop striving to deliver the care patients need when they need it.

Nowhere has this been better demonstrated than in the past 18 months as healthcare has repeatedly had to overcome COVID pandemic-sized setbacks. While the crisis triggered pauses and shutdowns of most activities through the world, healthcare kept plowing ahead, treating infected patients, offering virtual care when in-person visits weren’t safe, and tirelessly working to develop a vaccine. No matter what the emergency or need during the pandemic, providers continually adapted, innovated, and overcame.

Despite the coronavirus’s terrible human toll, the emergency has taught us some valuable yet costly lessons. It reminded us just how deadly and dangerous viral pandemics can be, and that we need to be much more prepared to meet future threats. We also learned how critical it is for government and healthcare organizations to closely work together in order to treat the infected, provide crucial medical supplies to providers, and vaccinate billions.

However, the pandemic also exposed weaknesses and inefficiencies in our healthcare systems. One was a relative lack of quick and modern patient-provider communication for COVID-related urgencies. Another was the mushrooming need to address widening gaps in healthcare among the most vulnerable populations, a situation exacerbated by the pandemic. Sixty-six percent of patients delayed or cancelled medical appointments during COVID, mostly due to fear of contracting the virus, but also due to things like loss of insurance and cost of care. Of those who postponed or cancelled visits, 83 percent suffer from chronic care conditions like obesity, diabetes, cancer, and lung diseases.

Simultaneously, patients negatively impacted by social determinants of health (SDOH)—socio-economic factors like income, education, access to transportation—found it even more difficult to access care during the pandemic. Many of these patients were disproportionately affected by heightened anxiety and depression due to increased social isolation and more pronounced gaps in care. It resulted in poorer outcomes for patients and missed reimbursements for value-based care for providers. Sixty-two percent of providers agree that non-adherent patients are affecting quality metrics.

But technology and changing patient communication preferences have pointed the way toward a convenient yet powerful tool to help providers more effectively connect with and care for these patients. Following consumer cues, patients in 2021 increasingly want to engage with providers through digital communication like text-messaging. While patients’ desire for phone calls has dropped 14 percent during the pandemic, 86 percent of providers said texting enhances the patient experience and 81 percent said texting improves patient outcomes. Since the vast majority of American adults own a smartphone and typically respond within minutes to a text, it’s also becoming the most effective way to reach patients affected by chronic conditions and SDOH. Texting is a fast, accessible, and convenient interaction tool that can be a win-win for patients and providers.

Since six in 10 U.S. adults have a chronic condition, and four in 10 have more than one, it’s vital for adherence and outcomes that patients get much-needed preventive care now rather than later. With text-based recall, a provider can send an automated text reminder corresponding with a patient’s diagnosis or other demographic. Chronic care patients are more likely to schedule the follow-up checkup or preventive screening they need because they can easily reply to a text reminder at their convenience. The response rate for text messages is 209 percent higher than it is for phone calls.

Similarly, text messages are an effective and available method to reach patients affected by SDOH due to high rates of smartphone ownership. Patients are more at-risk after discharge because it can be difficult to connect with them to coordinate follow-up care. In many cases, they don’t have a primary care physician. Providers can help eliminate gaps in care by identifying patients who may be at greater risk and reaching out through texts. Messages can remind patients to schedule a follow-up visit with a provider or specialist, pick up a prescribed medication, or invite them to text the provider for help accessing services.

Like the famous battery bunny, there’s no time to pause when it comes to responding to the time-critical needs of patients affected by chronic conditions and SDOH. Speed, convenience, and accessibility are the catchwords for effectively connecting with patients who may need more focused intervention to minimize gaps in care By leveraging technology and modern tools like texting, providers can more effectively reach patients affected by chronic conditions or SDOH to improve outcomes, lower costs, and fill their schedule.

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