There’s been a lot of movement recently in terms of mobile technology finding its way into the healthcare industry. SMS alerts, reminders and other concepts are starting to see increased usage in all facets of healthcare.
In a press release this morning, Globaltel announced its entrance into the mobile healthcare push by way of an innovative visual SMS solution dubbed “MedAlirti.” In a nutshell, the new solution enables the sharing of medical information with rich media via standard SMS text messaging.
The solution is unique in that it provides a high level of interactivity and rich media, while still being platform independent because of SMS-based delivery. It allows for the sharing of medical records and information without the need of any specialized mobile application, which will open the possibilities much wider than being limited to just smartphone users.
MedAlirti enables images, audio and video files to be sent as SMS text messages to any multimedia capable wireless device, regardless of carrier. The solution streamlines communications throughout the health information ecosystem, and can be implemented to improve a variety of healthcare-related services by utilizing advanced, managed two-way SMS text messaging technology. For example, a number of hospitals and other healthcare organizations are working with Globaltel Media to replace existing pager systems with the MedAlirti two-way SMS text solution.
A large hindrance to introducing new technology in the healthcare field has to do with HIPAA compliance, especially when dealing with sensitive patient-records and data. To alleviate these privacy concerns for both patients and healthcare providers, MedAlirti has been designed for full HIPAA compliance. Every message sent or received through MedAlirti is initiated with a Personal Identification Number (PIN), is authenticated with the mobile cellular phone number and managed, documented and tracked to enable a comprehensive audit trail.
In taking a look at the service, it seems that this is by far one of the most comprehensive mobile healthcare solutions to date- with Globaltel covering all basis thoroughly. The platform allows for numerous possibilities in the future to streamline a number of processes and communication channels, and will be interesting to see how those in the healthcare field respond.
“MedAlirti enables us to communicate much more efficiently with our surgery patients,” said Dr. Michael Holtel, M.D. “The ability to send, throughout the operating day, updated surgery arrival times and patient status updates via text message to my patients and their families not only reduces waiting times and the associated pressure with bed requirements, but provides them with a greater peace of mind previously unavailable.”
