ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: COVID 19 has adversely impacted family support systems for Inpatient oncology Solid tumor Oncology patients due to time restricted visitor policy. This has created a communication delay between treating teams who round in the morning and patient representatives (PR) who are allowed to only visit in the afternoon. We hypothesized that Text messaging reminders via Short Message service (SMS) will improve remote PR engagement during morning rounds and allow them to participate in the patient centered treatment plan. METHODS: We designed a monocentric trial for patients admitted to BWH/ DFCI adult solid tumor oncology service during August -October 2021. The target sample size was calculated to be 50 encounters to achieve a statistical power of 80%. We verbally consented patients and their representatives to volunteer in the automated texting protocol which invited the patient identified-representative (PR) remotely (via phone) to join the morning rounds during a predetermined time slot. RESULTS: After an IRB approval, we recruited 17 patients and were able to use the automated texting protocol (using Twilio based script) in a total of 61 encounters. A SMS was sent to PR the evening before with a predetermined time of rounds (a time slot similar to outpatient appointment time), which would then be confirmed by PR via replying to the SMS. Sixty six percent (40) PR confirmed the appointment time;Ninety three percent (37) of confirmed were able to be conferenced during the patient encounter and provided their patient centered valuable input. We found the average call time was 7.7 minutes. At the end of study, the PR were surveyed via SMS (to rate 1-5 with 5 being highly desirable service). Fifty two percent (9) of surveyed PR replied giving superior rating (5) for their experience. CONCLUSIONS: Short message service (SMS) is widely used in healthcare settings especially in outpatient settings and public health practice and has shown promising results. SMS interventions is low cost, easily disseminated. We found using automated texting protocol during inpatient rounds increased participation by family representatives by providing a more informed patientcentered care. However, further research is required to quantify the benefits of text-messaging on patient/ family experience and satisfaction.