Mobile messaging with patients.

### What you need to know Communication has been transformed by the mobile phone. Today, mobile messaging is widely used across all age groups,12 exceeding voice calls in people under 50.3 Healthcare providers worldwide are increasingly adopting digital integrated management systems that include messaging functions. This practice pointer offers an overview of mobile messaging to communicate with patients and carers, and offers suggestions for how to introduce these systems. Mobile messaging includes all forms of electronic communication that may be accessed on a mobile device (table 1). The public views mobile messaging as more convenient, time efficient, less intrusive, and less costly than voice calls.4 Sixty nine per cent of consumers across all age groups want to be able to contact a business via text,5 with several industries leading adoption of text messaging services with consumers, including retail, banking, hospitality, education, and travel.6 Within healthcare, patients generally see it as a useful addition to face-to-face encounters.78910 Meanwhile, doctors are also using digital communication channels, particularly for inter-professional communication.11 View this table: Table 1 Types of mobile messaging There is ongoing debate about whether mobile messaging in healthcare may widen health inequalities.1213 However, proponents see mobile messaging as an addition to existing ways of accessing healthcare, not a replacement. A 2017 study reported that nearly 40% of the UK GP practices used text messaging to communicate …