important to healthcare facilities, texting is one way we can better
serve the needs of patients and families.
"It was so nice to get your text," we'll often hear. And our repeat
patients — those who've had transplants and need liver biopsies or
those with facial hematomas receiving laser treatment — will often
tell our nurses, "Just text me next time" to remind them of their
appointment.
160 characters per text
Even though we've incorporated texting into our pre-op communica-
tions, we still do some things the traditional way. We don't let patients
register and record their medical information online, and we've yet to
integrate the texting system with our EHR. And we haven't done away
with the pre-op phone call. One of our nurses calls every patient's par-
ent about 3 days before surgery to review the child's medical history
and to take a health history. We haven't eliminated the phone call in
case the parent has a question for the nurse. During this initial call,
the nurse asks Mom or Dad for a secure phone number on which
they'd like to receive text alerts from us. Our automated system sends
a confirmation text during the call to ensure receipt.
Soon after we hang up, parents receive a standardized text that
includes the date of surgery, our address and phone number, as well as
links to our site about anesthesia and same-day surgery. We're limited to
160 characters per text, so we must be succinct.
One day before surgery, we'll call and text parents again to give
NPO instructions and to remind them of the arrival time. For pediatric
patients, NPO times can vary. We created texts for clear liquids
(water, Gatorade or plain, clear apple juice) up to 2 hours before sur-
gery, breast milk up to 4 hours, formula up to 6 hours and thickened
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