Okay, so you’re never going to get a text like that from your doctor. If you do, run and find a new doc.

But smart healthcare providers are catching on to interacting with their patients via smartphones (sans emoticons).

Modern medicine is just beginning to catch up to tech and figure out how SMS can be another tool to help patients. While the healthcare industry must adhere to additional electronic privacy rules along with standard anti-spam and proper marketing regulations that everyone else must follow, providers and their staff can still find smart ways to utilize texting.

Examples

• Appointment reminders. Instead of a card in the mail or a courtesy phone call, your provider’s office can send texts confirming an upcoming visit, or an automated text once a year for a check-up. Texts to doctors can also help them remember their own appointments.
• Seeking Advice. As long as the patient’s identity is protected, doctors can seek advice from other peers or specialists. Physician A’s texts can also get right through to Physician B, rather than going through the phone system and leaving a message, or sending an email that may get lost among the hundreds of others that doctors typically receive.
• Better adherence. A British study showed that patients who had regular text reminders from their providers were less likely to forget to take their medication or the wrong quantity. A group of 303 patients being treated for heart or blood pressure problems were divided into groups that received SMS notifications versus another group that didn’t. The texts were sent daily for the first two weeks, then every other day for two weeks, then weekly for five months. The study found that 25 percent of the “non-text” group didn’t complete the prescription, compared to 9 percent of the “text” group. This type of active texting could potentially lead to better prescription management — such as less waste, and better outcomes, i.e., if a patient doesn’t comply with a prescription or a recommended medical plan, they’ll increase the odds of suffering future problems like heart attacks.
• Better interaction with pharmacies. If a pharmacy has “just a little question for the doctor” it might take hours for the provider to receive a phone message but a quick text can lead to quick communication and a fast response.
• Provide accurate information. Doctors often discourage patients from research their problems online research and self diagnosing. So much of the information available on the Internet is questionable, wrong, and even dangerous. A study in the Journal of Medical internet Research showed that patients and doctors are both aware of some of the credibility concerns of certain sites, and suggests that improved communication between patient and provider can reduce anxiety and confusion. An SMS environment may not prove the best place to debate pros and cons of technical studies but a doctor or doctor’s office can text a patient reliable web links to accurate information — including the doctor’s website — and invite the patient to make an appointment for further discussion.
• Quick interactions. Many doctors and nurses would love nothing better than to spend more time with every patient but the reality of the current industry is that giving extra time for one patient means less time or delays for the next patient. Texting is a time-efficient way for a doctor and doctor’s staff to provide quick answers to patients with basic questions that may not necessitate an appointment.

Bottom Line

Texting can be a useful tool for physicians to communicate accurate information, maximize time management and improve patient relations.

Guest post by Sophorn Chhay, an inbound marketer specializing in attracting targeted visitors and generated sales qualified leads. Through Trumpia’s SMS and marketing automation solution he helps businesses and organizations communicate effectively with their customers or members. Trumpia is offering a free Mobile Marketing Success Kit so don’t forget to grab your free copy.

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Curled forward like the letter C, I stared at my computer rubbing my achy back and neck. I typed “Chiropractor NYC” and Google spit out 970,000 results. My Dad’s voice rang in my head, “They’re a bunch of quacks.” My managed care insurance covered in-network chiros so I hoped Dad was wrong and I spent the next few months schlepping from one chiropractor to the next. I felt better during some visits but by the next day the pain was back. It seemed Dad was right, it was all a bunch of hooey.

A friend saw me kneading my neck for the millionth time and started in on me, “I’m telling you,” she said, “You have to try this place.” It took a few more conversations but finally I relented and took the E train to 53^rd and Madison. Aside from getting a dog, that was the best decision I ever made.

On that first visit to Midtown Chiropractic Health & Wellness Center, I was welcomed by smiles from the receptionist and a sign above bowls of fruit that read, “Help yourself.” There was an array of decaf teas and soft cushy waiting room chairs. It had the ambiance of a spa. Dr. Todd Sinett (“Dr. Todd”), the owner, came out to greet me. I was struck by his lean, muscular physique and lively walk. “Please follow me,” he said. I didn’t know it then, but I’d soon be free from back and neck pain for weeks, even months, at a time.

He immediately pinpointed one problem. “Your jaw muscles are tense. Do you grind your teeth in your sleep?”

“Yes,” I said, “it’s inherited.”

He asked me to walk. Afterwards he said, “Low arches in your feet are throwing your body off. It doesn’t take much to cause misalignment—even sitting at work with a wallet in your back pocket can do it.”

He asked me to outstretch my arm and keep it straight, locked in that position. With his hand pressing down on my fist as if my arm were a water pump handle, he asked me to think about work. I did and my arm didn’t move. “Good,” he said, then asked me to think about family. He applied the same pressure but this time my arm couldn’t stay straight, it gave in to the resistance. “Is something going on with your family?” he said. There was. Mom and I had quarreled and it left me feeling guilty and mad.

“Hold your arm out straight and locked again,” Dr. Todd said. “Now, think about your friends.” When he tried to push my arm down it stayed straight and locked. “Now what about love life.” This time, despite meeting the same resistance, my arm went limp. Made sense, I was in the middle of a breakup.

He felt along my spine and pressed down on certain spots. I heard a series of cracks and crunches and felt better immediately. After the exam, I was sent to another room to meet with the massage therapist. She worked out knots in my neck, then led me to a motorized table and told me to lie down on my back. She put heated towels around my neck. For half an hour I listened to the purr of the mechanical table. When the visit was over I floated all the way home.

Over the next few months I lined up two appointments a week. During that time I was sent to a jaw specialist who showed me how my teeth were misaligned and fitted me for a mouth guard to wear in my sleep. Next was an orthopedist who confirmed I had flat feet and fitted me with custom arch supports to wear inside my shoes.

As I was lying on my back during a visit, he felt my stomach and said, “You’re eating too much salad.” That’s a first! Every diet I knew said to eat a ton of raw vegetables. “Salad is great,” he said “but a lot of women eat too much thinking they’ll lose weight. It can cause digestive problems which can lead to back pain.”

I noticed a book on his shelf titled, THE TRUTH ABOUT BACK PAIN and asked about it. It turned out Dr. Todd is the author and the book covers everything we’d talked about and more.

“Most chiropractors blame back pain on a structural problem,” said Dr. Todd.  They focus on muscles, bones, discs and nerves but miss two thirds of the problem.” He went on to say that physicians prescribe medications, physical therapists swear by exercise but two areas are often completely overlooked—nutrition and emotions.

“We have an epidemic in our society,” he said. “Back pain sends more people to doctors than any other condition, with only one exception, the common cold.”

Dr. Todd’s father was a chiropractor for 15 years. “One day he bent over to pick up a tennis ball,” Dr. Todd said. “He pulled a muscle, blew out his back and nobody could help him. After nine months bedridden and in pain, he found a doctor who asked about his diet.”

The doctor explained to Sinett, Sr. that his frequent intake of sugar and caffeine had effected his digestion and wreaked havoc on his body. When Sinett, Sr. changed what he ate his back was cured.

“Compare your body to a computer.” Dr. Todd said, “If anything is wrong it screws up everything else.”

Caffeine, I learned, causes foods to quickly run through the intestines before nutrients can be absorbed. Sugar destroys food digestion enzymes in the mouth, stomach, small intestines and the pancreas so no nutrients are absorbed. The body craves nutrition so when it receives only empty calories, cravings continue. This is one reason so many Americans overeat.

Here’s a typical day: wake up, drink coffee and eat something sweet. Energy is spiked enough to get rolling. By 10:00am, there’s no energy left and the solution is to reach for a soda and donut. Energy spikes again. When that snack wears off its time for lunch, which includes more sugar and more caffeine. By 3:00pm all zing has zapped so we nibble on a cookie and wash it down with coffee or soda. Alas, by 5:00 pm-ish all vigor has vegged. But, hooray! It’s dinnertime. More caffeine, more sugar. It is no mystery why our bodies kvetch and ache.

Aside from diet and structural issues, the third part of of the equation is emotional, as demonstrated by Dr. Todd’s arm resistance test. With the economy still shaky, the future unknown, and a lurking fear that the Taliban will strike again it is safe to say we are all familiar with stress.

Dr. Todd said, “If you dream a monster is chasing you, then wake up and tell yourself it was just a nightmare, your heart is still racing, your pulse is pounding, and you are still drenched in sweat. This is a perfect example of mental issues effecting physical well-being.”

Dr. Todd’s book includes a Stanford University study that proved stress and emotional outlook are the biggest factors in back pain. Whether things are real or imagined makes no difference to your body. Muscles and organs should contract, and then relax. “When people are stressed their muscles contract, contract, contract,” Dr. Todd said. “They don’t relax which causes tension that can create spasms and pain.”

“The nervous system can easily be thrown out of whack,” said Dr. Todd. His wellness center treats patients with a holistic whole body approach. In my case, the combo of my clenched jaw, diet, flat feet and stress had thrown my body off. After Dr. Todd’s treatments, and implementing his suggestions, even my chronic migraines disappeared.

Sinett uses treatment techniques based on a combination of Eastern (acupuncture, acupressure) and Western medicine. Customized regimens are created for each patient. “Some people need exercise, some people need to slow down and get massages,” Dr. Todd said. “When your body is balanced on a structural, nutritional, and emotional level, back pain can be relieved permanently.”

I’m not the only one who views Dr. Todd as a lifesaver, patient Charles “Al” Webster said, “One Friday before Memorial Day weekend I could not get out of bed. I was in so much pain I had to skip my holiday plans—Caesar’s in Atlantic City, a concert and golf with my buds. I stayed in bed till Monday. The pain was so bad I went to the Princeton Medical Center. The doc there said I’d had a back spasm. He told me to take anti-inflammation meds and painkillers and stay in bed for 2 weeks.

When you work at a big corporation like I do you don’t have the luxury of skipping work. A coworker told me about Dr. Todd but I chumped it off, thinking all chiropractors were crackpots. But the pain got so bad I was desperate. A bad back and Manhattan don’t mix—between commuting and subway stairs and walking to work, I was in agony. Reluctantly, I made an appointment with Dr. Todd. He examined me, then within minutes said, ‘There’s nothing wrong with you. You don’t need bed rest and you don’t need pills.’ He said he’d have me back in shape within 3 visits. ‘Yeah, sure,’ I thought, but after my first visit most of my cynicism was gone. I was able to walk back to my office in Times Square pain-free for the first time in 4 months. He pointed out that I was experiencing a lot of stress and eating a diet laden with sugar and it had caused structural damage to my back. I cut out a lot of sugar, worked out feelings that had been weighing on me, and Dr. T treated the structural issues. After 3 visits over a 14-day period, Dr. T said I was fixed and didn’t need to come back.”

To learn more visit www.MidtownChiro.com

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