A Nebraska hospital has launched a study to determine if targeted text messages to pregnant women can help reduce early birth rates and improve clinical outcomes for both infants and their mothers.
With funding support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska, the University of Nebraska Medical Center is targeting the leading cause of death among babies and young children. While all participants in the study are given access to community health workers and the national text4baby program, a select group will be given smartphones pre-loaded with the GoMo Health app, which will offer weekly, personalized text messages on wellness and risk factors.
Mary Cramer, PhD, a professor at the UNMC College of Nursing and the study's principal investigator, told mHealth News the study seeks to impact not only a national problem that affects one in every nine births, but also targets a rural part of the country where access to healthcare is difficult, both because of distance and a lack of healthcare resources.
"This really has the potential to improve access to healthcare by extending outreach," she said. "It has the potential to really change the way healthcare is delivered."
"Traditionally, it's been, 'We have people you can call in to and occasionally you have site visits.' This is much more coordinated and integrated," said Bob Gold, CEO of New Jersey-based GoMo Health, a developer of personalized patient engagement solutions that is partnering with Verizon to provide the smartphones. "There's a methodology and a supporting technology that engages with the healthcare professional and the patient in their day-to-day lifestyles … when they really need it."
According to Cramer, the project also targets an expensive issue. While healthy newborns delivered when they're supposed to be born require roughly $2,500 worth of healthcare expenses, those born prior to 37 weeks of gestation average $50,000 in healthcare costs, not to mention emotional stress on the parents and continuing – possibly lifelong – health issues.
In addition, Cramer noted, roughly half of all births in Nebraska are paid for by Medicaid.
Cramer said the study is getting strong support from healthcare providers throughout central Nebraska, who often bear the brunt of trying to provide care for pregnant mothers hours away from the nearest hospital or clinic. And while BCBSNE is funding the study, it's open to anyone in any type of health plan.
Gold and Alan Stern, GoMo Health's vice president of mobile healthcare strategy, said the study will go a long way toward defining how personal patient engagement platforms can improve outcomes and make the physician's life easier. The company has more than 50 programs running now across the country, many dealing with high-risk, underserved communities and chronic conditions.
"The idea is to be supportive without being too intrusive," said Gold. "You're trying to reach people when they need it the most, supplementing care relationships. And they get these messages when they want them, because what you're thinking about at 7 in the morning is not the same as what you're thinking about at night."
"It's so individualized – it's not just a generic message," added Cramer, whose partners in the study include Ken Shaffer, MD, chairman of the Central Nebraska Prenatal Advisory Board and chief medical director at UniNet-Kearney; and Stephen Lazoritz, MD, chief network medical director of the Arbor Health Plan. "The patient will really feel that the message is coming directly to them."
