Here's an interesting use of text messaging: NHS Hounslow, a British primary care organization, is experimenting with free, self-service home Chlamydia tests that send back test results via text message.
From The Register:
The west London primary care trust has launched an online service to enable Hounslow residents aged between 16 and 24 to request free, painless self-testing kits. The results can then be sent back by text message.
NHS Hounslow, which is responsible for the health of more than 200,000 people living in west London, is writing to 19,000 youngsters in the borough to tell them about the service.
"We are not expecting that volume of people to respond and the texting service is not being automated," said a spokesperson for the trust. "Someone will be responsible for answering and receiving the texts."
This presents an interesting problem: On one hand, text messages limit potentially embarrassing human interaction and they provide a response that can be received virtually anywhere. On the other, it presumably provides delayed access to counseling and advice.
Via Gizmodo
