Trext helps patients and staff at the U.Mass clinic

Massachusetts and California are the hotbeds of healthcare-related start-ups, and I decided to join the board of one created by some recent college graduates.  It's called Trext and is designed to take advantage of smart texting, using decision tree logic to engage in interactive messaging with one person alone or with thousands of people simultaneously.  Especially it you are trying to reach a generation of customers who no longer read email, it is a powerful option.

Apologies if what follows sounds like an advertisement because . . . it is!  But I also thought my readers might be interested even if they are not potential customers.

There are lots of applications, but one that has been quite successful is in use at the U. Mass Amherst student medical clinic, Trext Virtual Wait.  The company explains:

Trext Virtual Wait is software that allows patients to send a text message to get a place in line at a walk-in clinic. It’s similar to the “take-a-number” system at a deli, but instead of a ticket, patients are assigned numbers over text message. When a patient is four numbers away, they are sent a reminder text telling them to come in. For patients who don’t text, they can be added to the line in person.

At the U. Mass walk-in clinic, 50% of patients were texting in and waiting remotely within six months.  The clinic spread the word with marketing posters such as the example above. However, mostly news of the service spread through word of mouth. 

The clinic has seen a 60% decrease in wait time in the clinic itself. This means students are able to go about their days (or stay in bed) without having to wait in the physical waiting room. A poll  found the patients more satisfied and they spread the word to their friends.

The peaks and troughs of traffic in the clinic have been smoothed, so providers aren’t as overwhelmed. The software has also been able to collect rich data to inform operations decisions.

Trext can also be used for messaging decision trees for health campaigns--for everybody from dentists to veterinarians--and a wide variety of other potential applications.