Increasingly, healthcare providers are turning to technology to solve this issue. At the forefront of this technological revolution is the power of Text Messaging in Healthcare, a tool that has shown great promise in improving patient adherence and engagement. But how exactly does this work? Let’s dive in.

Powering Medication Adherence Through Text Messaging in Healthcare

Patient preference and adherence is a critical component of effective healthcare, but nearly 50% of patients do not take their medications as prescribed. This non-compliance can lead to severe health repercussions and increased healthcare costs. Enter the game-changer: Conversational Messaging. You’ll be impressed to know that the ‘Impact of Reminders on Adherence’, A study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that text message reminders improved medication adherence rates by 17.8%

SMS messaging for healthcare offers a straightforward, cost-effective, and patient-friendly solution to medication non-adherence. With personalized medication reminders delivered right to a patient’s mobile device, patients are more likely to stick to their prescription schedules. Messaging can further encourage Patient preference and adherence by providing clear instructions for medication intake, addressing common concerns about side effects, and offering timely support when patients need it.

Enhancing Appointment Compliance via Text Messaging in Healthcare

Missing healthcare appointments is a pervasive issue that leads to delayed care, disrupted treatment plans, and unnecessary healthcare costs. The U.S. healthcare system incurs over $150 billion in annual costs due to no-show appointments, as demonstrated by a study released in the BMC Health Services Research journal. This problem, too, can be tackled effectively through SMS messaging.

SMS healthcare text reminders for appointments significantly reduce the likelihood of no-shows. Moreover, by enabling two-way communication, text messaging allows patients to easily reschedule appointments if needed. This reduces the chances of empty appointment slots, enhancing clinic efficiency.

As the ‘Impact of Reminders on Appointment Attendance’ study in the Journal of American Board of Family Medicine, text message reminders reduced the rate of missed appointments by nearly 30%. Furthermore, it also fosters stronger patient-doctor relationships by maintaining consistent communication and demonstrating the healthcare provider’s commitment to the patient’s well-being.

Transforming Overall Patient Engagement through Text Messaging in Healthcare

Beyond improving patient preference and adherence and appointment compliance, messaging can transform overall patient engagement. For example, The survey conducted by the National Library of Medicine provided intriguing data about patients’ communication preferences. A remarkable 98.2% of patients found text messages to be a favorable mode of communication, and 95.5% felt a heightened sense of connection with their healthcare team through this medium. Additionally, 91.9% of respondents agreed that these text updates reduced their need to make calls to the office.

Equally noteworthy is that 91.9% of patients showed a clear preference for text updates over other communication methods such as emails, phone calls, or patient portal messages. By texting regular health tips, wellness checks, and encouragement, SMS marketing services can foster healthier lifestyles and a greater sense of connection between patients and healthcare providers.

This two-way communication also empowers patients, giving them a more active role in their healthcare journey. This empowerment not only enhances patients’ overall satisfaction but also improves health outcomes by promoting active participation in their healthcare.

Why Choose SMS-Magic: The Best SMS Marketing Services

With numerous SMS service providers in the market, it’s important to choose one that truly stands out. SMS-Magic offers the best SMS marketing services, tailored to meet the unique needs of healthcare professionals.

We understand the necessity of ensuring patient adherence and preference in the healthcare industry. That’s why our services are designed to deliver personalized, timely, and accurate messages. Through our robust platform, you can send appointment reminders, medication alerts, and follow-up messages that keep your patients engaged and compliant.

Moreover, SMS-Magic’s user-friendly platform allows healthcare providers to easily manage their communication with hundreds or even thousands of patients. Our services are HIPAA-compliant, ensuring all patient communication is private and secure.

At SMS-Magic, we’re committed to harnessing the power of conversational messaging to enhance patient adherence. We’re here to help healthcare providers leverage this powerful tool to promote better patient outcomes. So why wait? Join us in driving SMS healthcare forward with SMS-Magic, and let’s make non-adherent patients a thing of the past.

Thank you for reading our blog! Stay tuned for more insights on how messaging is shaping the future of various industries. Remember, with SMS-Magic, your communication possibilities are endless. Follow us to get timely updates. 

Billions of people use messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and SMS – allowing them to make payments, talk to their bankers, and submit applications from their mobile phones. Conversational messaging has become the preferred business communication channel around the world.

Now you have a chance to test drive the newly updated version of SMS-Magic!

If you already have created a sandbox environment, we would like to push an Early Release Preview to your sandbox in the next two weeks. We’d like you to try it and let us know what you think. Here’s all you need to do:

• If you have a sandbox in Version 1.68 now, do nothing. We’ll push the new release to your sandbox automatically.
• If you’d rather not play, send an email  to marketing@sms-magic.com to tell us to exclude your sandbox from the push.
• Be sure to save your work before the auto-push.

Once you’ve tried the new version of SMS-Magic, we need your feedback. We’ll give you some time to try the new release out, then we’ll send you an email with a feedback link. Your input will help us create a better product for you.

What’s New in the Early Release Preview?

SMS-Magic is known for sophisticated, easy-to-use APIs designed for CRMs like Salesforce and Zoho. The upgrades in the new release make those integrations even easier and give you more control over how you engage your customers.

• Enhanced User Experience: Personalize your user experience with additional role-based permission sets and organize the records detail page with conversation component resizing.
• Multimedia Conversations: Send bigger rich-media files over instant messengers and set Salesforce as the storage location for them.
• Tame the Templates: Enjoy quick access to org-wide templates from SMS-Magic Global Navigation.
• Find Your Conversation Flows: Search by “app name” or “PA-Key” and view process builders, workflows and flows linked with any Converse App.
• Launch Conversations at Scale: Manage multiple high-volume campaigns directly from SMS-Magic Global Navigation.
• Engage with Customers at the Right Time, Every Time: SMS-Magic’s Early Release Preview keeps track of your conversations from start to finish in a single thread – before or after you create the record. Modifying objects and templates? No problem. Your conversations are always on. You can immediately spot conversations assigned to you and keep them uninterrupted and synched with Salesforce at all times.
• Enjoy Stronger Compliance & Support: We’ve enhanced the back-end so you can track all SMS-Magic user activity in one place and access all activity logs when you need them. Configure opt-in and opt-out keywords, templated messages, and message tags. Maintain audit trails and enable reporting for multichannel compliance, opt-out rates, message delivery, and more. Have a question? Our support team is ready to help resolve any issues you encounter. You can turn on full- or limited-access to the support team for seven days at a time.
• Confidently Continue Conversations On the Go: You can spot new messages anytime, anywhere. The upgraded SMS-Magic Mobile App prominently displays how many unread messages you have. The app also lets you continue conversations from your mobile phone and tracks them in your CRM. You can share exact map locations in conversations to improve any in-person meeting experience.

The new release of SMS-Magic’s Early Release Preview is your perfect partner to power high-stakes conversational messaging for moments that matter. Help us make it the best it can be with your feedback. If you have questions, please contact customer support.

If you haven’t tried SMS-Magic yet, our customer support team would love to show you how SMS-Magic can make reaching your customers easier and more effective. Ask for a demo or a free trial!

The legislation initially will affect large companies including Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft. For example, it will not allow Google to collect personal data from different services to target ads to consumers without the users’ consent. And Apple may have to allow users to download apps from sources other than the App Store.

“Faced with big online platforms behaving like they were ‘too big to care,’ Europe has put its foot down,” Thierry Breton, one of the top digital officials in the European Commission, said in a recent NY Times article. “We are putting an end to the so-called Wild West dominating our information space.”

The EU is also expected to pass legislation next month that would force social media companies to police their platforms more aggressively.

The new legislation may extend its influence in two key areas. First, experts believe more restrictive legislation will appear around the world in response to the DMA – as it did after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted. Launched in 2018, the GDPR restricted the collection and sharing of personal data in the EU and became a model for countries like Brazil and Japan. Also, the new European standards may expand to become global standards because it’s easier for companies to apply them across all their markets rather than carving out rules for a single geographic area.

Messaging services can also be affected by the legislation. WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, could be required to make its system accessible to users of rival services like Signal or Telegram. Signal or Telegram, for example, would have the option of making their systems compatible with WhatsApp. As the law takes effect and enforcement begins, other modifications may cascade from those that are initially apparent.

So, if you thought you could simply wait out the implementation of U.S. and international privacy laws and fly under the radar, you might need to rethink your strategy. Privacy regulations are not going away. They are, in fact, growing.

SMS-Magic Can Help

We’re always watching text messaging regulations around the world so that we can help you stay compliant. As the DMA takes effect, we’ll let you know how new laws may affect your customer outreach.

We can help make compliance easier, particularly if you’ve tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. We can help you keep up with the details like customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Protecting privacy is a complicated question, but with the right partner, the answer can be simple. We’ll keep you updated as laws around the world change. Let SMS-Magic help you reach your customers while you’re protecting their privacy.

Start a free trial today! Your customers will love you for it!

Here’s a beginner’s guide to compliance for companies using business-to-person texts in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom. And even if you’re an old hand at text messaging, we may have some good advice for you, too.

TCPA – the Federal Regulation in the U.S.

The U.S. Congress originally created the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to combat unsolicited phone calls, and it has expanded to include new technologies like text messaging. It contains specific restrictions and penalties that companies ignore at their peril. The fines can be as much as $1,500 per message sent. In one of the first class-action lawsuits concerning texting, Papa John’s settled the case against it for $16.5 million in 2013.

Perhaps the most important portion of the TCPA concerns acquiring permission to text. You must have express written consent before your company can legally send text messages to anyone. Before that first text goes out, your customer must say it’s okay or “opt in” to receiving your text messages.

That generally means the first contact must made by a different type of communication. Email, online applications, online communication preferences, direct mail, comment cards, and point-of-purchase materials are some of the most common. Some companies ask customers to text them first, and that action starts an automated chain of messages that allows the customer to opt in.

When a company responds to a request to text, the first text they send must contain a few elements. Here they are:

• Company name.
• Customers agree to receive texts from your company.
• Customers don’t have to receive texts to purchase anything from you.
• Frequency of messages. Be up front about how often you plan to text.
• Message and data rates may apply.
• How to reach customer service.
• How to opt out. For example, “Reply STOP to unsubscribe.”
• Provide a link to your privacy policy.

That’s quite a bit to include in 160 characters, so you can design a series of automated texts that contain the information. Your second text can explain any coupons, discounts or other promotions you’re offering.

GDPR Sets Regulations for EU & UK

In the years since the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) hit the streets in the European Union, it’s become clear that all businesses, regardless of size, need to understand what the GDPR requires. The EU is serious about enforcing its provisions.

Fines have ranged from €2.5 million to €225 million for non-compliance. Although these fines may be negligible to multinationals, smaller companies could be devasted by them. Smaller companies and individuals are not exempt from harsh penalties and the costs associated with defending the charges.

The same rules apply in the United Kingdom as they do in the European Union. The UK agreed to GDPR and Brexit has not changed anything.

Who is Affected by GDPR?

Of course, companies that conduct business in the EU and the UK are directly affected by the GDPR rules. But so are companies with customers there. That could be you. Also, your company might be affected if someone living in the EU or UK visits your website and allows you to install cookies on their computer. The more contact you have with people in the EU, the more risk you assume.

GDPR’s Seven Principles for Privacy Rights

The GDPR is based on seven basic tenets:

1. Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency: personal data shall be processed lawfully, with fairness to the data subject, and fully transparent. 
2. Purpose Limitation: The organization shall process personal data concerning the contract or business operation, which are explicit or specified before processing. 
3. Data Minimization: data shall not be held or processed further than is required for the purpose.
4. Accuracy: data must be updated, rectified, or erased if inaccurate. 
5. Storage Limitation: you cannot keep personal data longer than necessary; your data retention must have a deletion time. 
6. Integrity and Confidentiality: all personal data must be kept secure and protected against theft, accidental loss, unlawful processing, or damage.
7. Accountability: Organizations must be able to demonstrate that they put appropriate technical and organizational safeguards in place.

What’s New with the GDPR in 2021?

As the EU has updated the GDPR, you need to know what’s changed:

1. All parties who have access to customer data are responsible for data security. When data leaves your company, the company that receives it becomes a “joint controller.”
2. Special data-collection rules between the EU and US have expired. If you handle EU data, you must include standard GDPR contractual clauses in your terms and conditions.
3. When collecting data, you must have clear and explicit consent for which data you collect and process.

Privacy Regulations Are Here to Stay

If you thought you could simply wait out the implementation of TCPA and GDPR and fly under the radar, you might need to rethink your strategy. They are not going away, and privacy regulations are growing.

Tracking Explicit Consent

You must track who opts in and who opts out of your text marketing campaigns, and you must have explicit consent to collect and process a customer’s personal information. You’ll also need to track who is already in the system to keep one person from opting in multiple times, and you’ll need to be able to erase a person’s data from all parts of your system, if requested.

SMS-Magic can make compliance easy, particularly if you’ve tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. We can help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Protecting privacy is a complicated question, but with the right partner, the answer can be simple. Let SMS-Magic help you reach your customers while you’re protecting their privacy.

Contact us to answer your questions, set up a demo or start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!

In the three years since it took effect, however, it’s become clear that all businesses, regardless of size, need to understand what the GDPR requires. The EU is serious about enforcing its provisions.

The Irish Data Protection Commission has fined WhatsApp €225 million, the Luxembourg National DPC has fined Amazon £630 million, and the Italian DPA has fined Deliveroo €2.5 million, among many other fines levied for non-compliance. Although these fines may be negligible to multinationals, smaller companies could be devastated by them. Smaller companies and individuals are not exempt from harsh penalties and the costs associated with defending the charges.

SMS-Magic can help you understand the privacy risks you run, and we can help you manage your text messaging programs. Our products are designed to make it easier to comply with GDPR regulations.

Who is Affected by GDPR?

Of course, companies that conduct business in the EU are directly affected by the GDPR rules. But so are companies with customers in the EU. That could be you. Also, your company might be affected if someone living in the EU visits your website and allows you to install cookies on their computer. The more contact you have with people in the EU, the more risk you assume.

You might not do business in the EU and no one from the EU has visited your website or ordered a product from you. That doesn’t give you a pass.

You still must be aware of the worldwide repercussions from the regulation. GDPR was just the first international privacy legislation, not the last. Other countries, like Brazil, have followed suit with their own versions of privacy regulations, as has the state of California. And three years in, the EU has modified the GDPR to include broader responsibility for managing data safely.

Chances are even the smallest businesses that are active on the web will be affected. How familiar are you with the GDPR?

GDPR’s Seven Principles for Privacy Rights

The GDPR is based on seven basic tenets:

1. Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency: personal data shall be processed lawfully, with fairness to the data subject, and fully transparent. 
2. Purpose Limitation: The organization shall process personal data concerning the contract or business operation, which are explicit or specified before processing. 
3. Data Minimization: data shall not be held or processed further than is required for the purpose.
4. Accuracy: data must be updated, rectified, or erased if inaccurate. 
5. Storage Limitation: you cannot keep personal data longer than necessary; your data retention must have a deletion time.
6. Integrity and Confidentiality: all personal data must be kept secure and protected against theft, accidental loss, unlawful processing, or damage.
7. Accountability: Organizations must be able to demonstrate that they put appropriate technical and organizational safeguards in place.

What’s New with the GDPR in 2021?

As the EU has updated the GDPR, you need to know what’s changed:

1. All parties who have access to customer data are responsible for data security. When data leaves your company, the company that receives it is also responsible for it as a “joint controller.”
2. Special data-collection rules between the EU and US have expired. If you handle data from the EU, you must include standard GDPR contractual clauses in your terms and conditions.
3. When collecting data, you must have clear and explicit consent for which data you collect and process. You can’t restrict access to your website by requiring a user to accept cookies.

Privacy Regulations Are Here To Stay

If you thought you could simply wait out the implementation of the GDPR and fly under the radar, you might need to rethink your strategy. GDPR is not going away. Indeed, as we mentioned earlier, more countries, states and territories are devising their own privacy regulations.

So perhaps it’s time to review your company’s data collection and processing practices. As part of that review, you should review your vendors’ privacy practices, as well. As a joint controller, your vendors can help you comply or can help put you in harm’s way. At SMS-Magic, we are your partner and have developed our systems to help you comply with privacy regulations.

Tracking Explicit Consent

With the changes to the GDPR, you must keep track of who has opted in and who has opted out of your text marketing campaigns. You must have explicit consent to collect and process a customer’s personal information. You’ll also need to track who is already in the system to keep one person from opting in multiple times, and you’ll need to be able to erase a person’s data from all parts of your system, if requested.

SMS-Magic can make compliance easy, particularly if you’ve tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. No matter what industry you’re in – banking, higher education, hospitality, finance or others, we’ll help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

SMS-Magic is designed to track opt-in and opt-out requests so that you send only to the customers who have specifically asked you to. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Protecting privacy is a complicated question, but with the right partner, the answer can be simple. Let SMS-Magic help you reach your customers while you’re protecting their privacy.

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!

We’ve got tons of suggestions. But first, let’s make sure we spell out what express written consent means.

You must have express written consent before your company can legally send text messages to anyone. That means more than just asking for their phone number. It doesn’t matter who it is – an existing customer, a former client, a trade-show lead, or someone on a purchased marketing list. Before that first message goes out, your customer must say it’s okay.

The U.S. Congress created the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to combat unsolicited phone calls. Through the years, however, it has expanded to include new technologies like text messaging. It contains specific restrictions and penalties that companies ignore at their peril. The fines can be as much as $1,500 per message sent. In one of the first class-action lawsuits concerning texting, Papa John’s settled the case against it for $16.5 million in 2013.

What do you need to include in your messages asking for express written consent? Our recent blog will give you the details for your calls to action.

Here are our suggestions for gaining express written consent while abiding by TCPA regulations:

Trade Show Touches

If you regularly exhibit at trade shows, you can promote your text messaging program to prospects,  existing clients and lapsed clients with your booth signage. A stand-alone sign or banner can provide the initial instructions, and your text messaging program can automatically handle the exchange when the customer responds.

Business Cards

If you use business cards at trade shows or other business meetings, you can include initial instructions for opting into your messaging campaign on the business card.

Product Packaging

Include instructions for opting into your messaging campaign on product packaging, shopping bags, tote bags, napkins, or other peripheral materials you regularly give to customers.

Coupons & Discounts

You can offer coupons and discounts if someone signs up for your SMS marketing program, but be careful how you word your offer. Make sure you explain the coupon or discount is only available if they sign up to receive SMS marketing messages from you. So “A 20% discount is available when you join our text messaging list” is okay. “Text us to get a 20% discount” is not.

Emails

If you have permission to email your customers, you can send instructions for opting into your messaging campaign. Be sure to take care in the wording when you offer a discount, coupon or added bonus in your email.

Website

Pop-up windows on your website can prompt users to opt into your messaging program. You can also include information on static web pages that have high traffic.

Contests

Start a contest that includes opting into your texting program. Social media channels work well for this type of customer interaction.

Social Media

Use your social media channels to extend your offer.

Online Ads

Include your offer in online ad campaigns.

Signage, Point of Purchase

If you have a physical location that your customers visit, include your text messaging offer on store signage or point-of-purchase materials. Using a short code phone number can make it easy for a customer to respond.

Customer Receipts

Print your offer on customer receipts or include them on email receipts.

Radio, Television, Newspaper

Media that’s not online can provide a receptive, if different, audience.

Billboards

Drivers don’t have much time to read a billboard, so use clever short codes so that they can remember how to respond. Short codes, unlike long codes, use five or six digits to send a text. Sending “opt-in” to CHEESE could get you extra toppings on your next pizza.

Blogs

Include an opt-in message in all your blogs. Or create pop-up windows that appear while someone is reading a blog. You can provide a special white paper or case study as a premium for opting in. As with coupons and discounts, be careful how you word the offer.

Yard Signs

Yard signs are not just for homeowners. You can use them on your business property to encourage customers, clients or patients to sign up for text messaging.

Tee Shirts

Clever text on your team’s tee shirts can help spread the word at trade shows, charity events or community projects. Short codes would be a great way to keep the message brief.

What Should Happen After a Customer Opts-In

After your customer has opted-in, you’ll want to send a text confirming their participation. In that text, you can mention all the information they need to make an informed decision, such as what they can expect to receive, how often messages will arrive, applicable message and data rates, who you are, and how to opt out. That isn’t a complete list of the information you need to share, but you can find a list in our recent blog. Products like SMS-Magic can help you automate the messages that follow an offer response. What could be easier?

Keeping Track of Who Opted In and Who Opted Out

You’ll need to keep track of who has opted in and who has opted out, as well as who is already in the system to keep one person from opting in multiple times. SMS-Magic can make compliance a breeze, particularly if you have tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. No matter what industry you’re in – banking, higher education, hospitality, finance or others, we’ll help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

SMS-Magic is designed to track opt-in and opt-out requests so that you send only to the customers who have specifically asked you to. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Does SMS-Magic sound like the answer you’ve been looking for? We hope so!

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!