Evaluation of Text Messaging as an Educational Method to Improve Healthcare Utilization

Health care utilization is a issue germane to health care providers, insurers, and patients alike. Reducing non-urgent visits to the emergency department (ED) and primary care providers can improve both the quality and cost of care. There are barriers, however, to educating patients about more appropriate health care utilization. Low health literacy is one such barrier, particularly for caregivers of pediatric patients. Research reveals that up to half of caregivers seeking treatment at the ED have low levels of health literacy; levels that can make it more difficult to not only make sound decisions, but also provide effective follow-up care. Moreover, low levels of literacy perpetuate a cycle of seeking care for non-urgent conditions. Education initiatives designed to counteract the effects of low health literacy on health care utilization have been shown to reduce non-urgent ED visits by as much as 80%. These education interventions, while effective, are complex, costly, or time-intensive. For example, home visits by a nurse, parenting classes, and video tools are all shown to reduce non-urgent ED use, but each poses a unique problem for implementation in high volume, urban, pediatric primary care clinic. To date, no study has examined the effectiveness of text messaging as a possible avenue for educating caregivers about issues related to health care utilization. Text messaging has been shown to support behavioral change, and represents a fast and cost-effective alternative to more labor-intensive and expensive alternatives.

Danis Pediatrics, the pediatric practice of Saint Louis University physicians within SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center (CGCMC), serves as a medical home to primarily urban, low-income patients. In the first half of 2014 alone, there were 5259 visits to the ED by caregivers of patients < 13 months of age. Of those, 520 Danis Pediatrics patients accounted for 919 of those visits. In short, just under 1 in 5 visits to the CGCMC ED is a Danis patient, and Danis patients visit the ED approximately 2 times in the first year. Previous studies of patients at Danis Pediatrics suggest that this population has access to text messaging and is interested in receiving healthcare-related information from their pediatric provider.