Assuming they’re not driving when they do it, doctors can save lives by texting their patients.

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A new analysis of 16 studies on the effect of physicians texting patients about medication finds that, at the very least, a friendly reminder from the doc can go a long way in getting a patient to take her meds.

The researchers concluded that texting doubled the chance that a patient would adhere to his prescription.

Overall, adherence was 67.8 percent, a substantial improvement over the 50 percent adherence that is typical for those with chronic illness.

The 16 different studies that were examined included a variety of different texting strategies.

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Some included personalized texts and some included two-way communication between provider and patient.

But the analysis did not find that there was a significant difference in adherence based on texting style.

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“Future studies need to determine the features of text message interventions that improve success, as well as appropriate patient populations, sustained effects, and influences on clinical outcomes,” said the report, authored by a team of researchers, led by Jay Thakkar of the Department of Cardiology at Westmead Hospital, in Sydney, Australia.

The study authors further cautioned that many of the studies relied on patients self-reporting their medication adherence, which could inflate the apparent effect of the texts.

Robby Nieuwlaat, a professor of epidemiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, told Kaiser Health News that the effect of text messages on patients may wear off after a while.

And although it is a relatively cheap technological solution, he notes it is still unclear who would or should pay for it.

“If it’s on the patient side, it has to be acceptable to the patient — maybe they pay a bit more for the text messaging they receive,” he said. If health systems or doctors subsidize text reminders, they’ll “have to think about whether they think it’s worth investing the money, considering the potential benefit.”

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How doctors might get patients to take their medicine

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