AVANT, Australia’s leading medical defence organisation (MDO) has provided very helpful tips for sending SMS messages;
o Dos and don’ts of patient SMS communication
o Recommendations when using SMS messaging
In Pracsoft and Clinical, doctors and practice staff can protect patient personal information when using text communication by taking a few simple steps.
Step 1: Obtain and Document Patient Consent
Step 2: Limit Information Contained in Text Messages
Step 3: Implement a System for Following-up Patients who do not Respond to Recall SMS Messages
Step 4: Document Text Messages in the Patient’s Medical Record
Please note that these are the recommendations that can be managed within the system, there are other steps mentioned in AVANT recommendations that may require manual steps outside the system.