Emergency Rooms Turn to Texting Wait Times

[Sarah Willey]

Having spent many hours in a hospital ER waiting room for myself and my kids, I'm really excited about the following concept.

Some hospitals are adding a texting service that allows patients to receive up-to-date information on their mobile phones while en route to the hospital. Shawnee Mission (Kan.) Medical Center uses a system called ER Texting, a system that went live last March. Using a dedicated texting code, patients can send a text message with their ZIP code in the body of the text. The system sends a message back with the ED wait times of each hospital within the specified ZIP code that has contracted with the messaging service. The times do not apply to life-threatening emergencies that require immediate attention. Since the system went into fffect, the hospital has received up to 300 requests each month. Since Shawnee Mission's texting system went live last March, the hospital has received 200 to 300 text requests each month. For those of you in Massachusetts, Lawrence General Hospital has ER texting as well and receives about 200 to 150 texts per month.

 

I think this is a great service to the community and I'm sure it's a matter of time before more hospitals offer this kind of service.

 

[Sarah Willey]

I heard about the billboards as well. I've gone through the so-called Fast Track. Basically, if your case is less severe, you're sent to a different area to be seen. It was definitely quicker.

[Nick Liberati]

Glad to see something is being done about this. Emergency rooms are notorious for their long wait times. The ER near my College took forever (don't ask how I know). I have also heard of iPhone apps that alert you of ER times, as well as electronic billboards.