Texts to monitor patient progress

A text message system could soon help doctors monitor patient progress.

Italian researchers have developed short questionnaires which can be sent to patients’ mobile phones, and completed using their phone keypad. They hope it will help doctors to detect any significant change in a patient’s wellbeing without actually having to see them in person. The technology has been developed by communications company Reply-planeT and Instituto Nazionale Tumori in Milan.The questions ask them to rate symptoms such as weight loss, shortness of breath and having trouble sleeping. The results are gathered and presented on a secure web page which gives the doctors a quick overview of how their symptoms are evolving. Any serious changes in symptoms causes a flashing light to appear by their name to help doctors prioritise those in most serious need of intervention. The researchers, writing in the journal BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, said: “The wide and growing use of mobile phones and the internet by the general population provides important new methods for communication between doctor and patient.” Trials The team tested the system – known as Wireless Health Outcomes Monitoring Systems (Whoms) – on 97 cancer inpatients at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori. All of those who attempted to fill in the 10-question text questionnaire did so successfully on their mobile phones. “This confirmed the user-friendliness of the system for people familiar with modern communication technologies,” the researcher said. But 42% of those patients asked to take part in the trial refused to participate, mostly because they were not experienced in the use of mobile phones. The researchers hoped this number could be reduced if the patient got help from their family. They also said that other forms of communication, like the internet, could be incorporated into the new system. The researchers said: “We are currently introducing modifications aimed at improving the system. “In particular we are investigating multi-channel approaches so that we can offer Whoms functions through palm computers and interactive voice responders to provide a better interface and a wider choice for patients.” Dr Paul Cundy, chairman of the Joint GPIT Committee, representing the British Medical Association and the Royal College of GPs, told BBC News Online that such a scheme might increase doctors’ workload. “You cannot really capture the way a patient feels in a text message, and although this seems like a sensible way of working around the limitations of this form of communication, there is a danger that you are generating yet more stuff that needs to be analysed and assessed,” he said.(Source: Instituto Nazionale Tumori: BBC News: June 2004)