Just text me! Texting sexually transmitted disease clients their test results in Florida, February 2012-January 2013.

BACKGROUND: In response to increasing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), diminishing resources, and delays in prompt treatment, the Florida STD Program began providing test results through text message in 2011. The aims of the evaluation of the first year of the project were to assess (1) client uptake and completion of texting and (2) whether texting was associated with a shorter treatment time frame. METHODS: Clients screened for STDs at clinics in 3 Florida counties were offered the option to receive test results through coded texts. A positive code prompted clients to call back for treatment information. Texting was conducted through the state's surveillance application, Patient Reporting Investigation Surveillance Manager (PRISM). Evaluation data on clients who opted in (texters) and clients who did not opt in (nontexters) were retrieved from Patient Reporting Investigation Surveillance Manager and descriptively analyzed. RESULTS: From February 2012 to January 2013, 10,272 clients were offered texting in Clay, Duval, and Seminole counties. Of those offered, 52% opted in. Among texters who were positive and had not been treated (n = 345), 57% called back. Texters received treatment in 5.1 days and nontexters received treatment in 6.7 days (P = 0.036). Texters who called back received treatment 3 days sooner than texters who did not call back (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Texting offers STD programs an alternative to traditional notification procedures and may be a viable option for STD programs to reduce the use of staff resources and increase timely treatment for clients. In addition, it can be integrated within an existing surveillance database to minimize the burden of the new process.

Use of a Business Approach to Improve Disease Surveillance Data Management Systems and Information Technology Process in Florida's Bureau of STD Prevention and Control.

The business of sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention and control demands technology that is capable of supporting a wide array of program activities-from the processing of laboratory test results to the complex and confidential process involved in contact investigation. The need for a tool that enables public health officials to successfully manage the complex operations encountered in an STD prevention and control program, and the need to operate in an increasingly poor resource environment, led the Florida Bureau of STD to develop the Patient Reporting Investigation Surveillance Manager. Its unique approach, technical architecture, and sociotechnical philosophy have made this business application successful in real-time monitoring of disease burden for local communities, identification of emerging outbreaks, monitoring and assurance of appropriate treatments, improving access to laboratory data, and improving the quality of data for epidemiologic analysis. Additionally, the effort attempted to create and release a product that promoted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's ideas for integration of programs and processes.