Patient acceptability of receiving short message services from an HIV patient-centered medical home

ABSTRACT

Patient-centered medical homes (PCMH) are a key component in addressing the comprehensive physical and psychosocial needs of persons living with HIV. The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW) is a PCMH that has become a nationally recognized leader in addressing barriers to HIV retention in care. Recently, ARCW has become interested in the use of short message services (SMS), as SMS have been found to have positive impacts on treatment adherence, CD4⁺ counts, viral load, and appointment attendance. The purpose of this research was to evaluate patient acceptability of receiving SMS from an HIV specific PCMH, in addition to evaluating patient privacy concerns and practical details of incorporating SMS into clinical care. These constructs were evaluated through a survey of 180 ARCW patients recruited from several ARCW waiting rooms. Patients were most interested in receiving SMS from medical, dental, and pharmacy services and message content regarding appointment and medication refill reminders. Participants did not indicate the presence of significant privacy concerns and were divided nearly in half over whether ARCW should refer to itself as “ARCW” or “Your medical/dental clinic.” Prior to implementation of SMS at ARCW, further evaluation into the optimization of language into concise and easy to understand messages that maximize confidentiality and minimize patient anxiety is needed.

KEYWORDS:

• SMS
• PCMH
• HIV
• patient-centered medical home

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Dr. Leslie Cockerham, Valerie Ramirez, the ARCW staff at the Milwaukee, Madison, and Kenosha locations, the Center for AIDS Intervention Research and the participants who completed our survey.

Disclosure statement

Heather Czarny and Michelle Broaddus declare they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Center for AIDS Intervention Research, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, P30-MH052776, Jeffery A. Kelly, Principal Investigator.