UCSF INVESTIGATOR SELECTS PATENTED TWO-WAY BOOMERANG SMS TECHNOLOGY FOR MEDICAL TRIAL

16th December 2010: James S. Kahn, a investigator at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has selected a patented two-way SMS service from Boomerang. The groundbreaking "Intelligent SMS" service will assist in the hands-off communication between the clinical research team and the patient via SMS supporting a medical research trial on HIV treatment. The SMS technology from Boomerang provides a simple communication interface between a complex medical system and the patient. This then enables multiple outgoing SMS texts to be intelligently matched to their replies and passed back to the medical database, thus supporting patients in their medication regime. 

Boomerang is a specialised technology that integrates with both UCSF's Positive Health Program's at San Francisco General Hospital Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and its electronic medical record database - HERO (Healthcare Electronic Record Organiser). The technology enables delivery of SMS communication through the CRM system, providing a clear audit trail and linking each individual inbound response with the original outgoing message. 

Through Boomerang, patients will receive scheduled text message reminders which are intelligently linked to the patient's electronic health record. The patients' individual response(s) will then automatically be coupled with the original outgoing SMS. The CRM database then executes the process of escalating each message received] to the most appropriate level based on the response received. 

Dr James S. Kahn, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital, comments, "We needed an SMS service that would allow us to intelligently match outgoing messages with the specific inbound responses from each patient several times a day. It needed to integrate into our workflow system to help escalate issues and automate the process even further. BoomerangTM was the only service on the market that was able to offer us a simple solution to a complex problem." 

Dr Kahn adds, "Unfortunately, only a limited number of the patients have easy access to the internet and therefore email. Luckily, most have a basic mobile phone and for that reason SMS is seen as the best way to instantly communicate to offer patients advice and remind them of upcoming appointments and alerts to take their medicine." 

Martin Perminas, CEO at Boomerang adds, "We are looking forward to continuing our work in integrating intelligent SMS technology into this clinical trial." Perminas continues, "We are delighted that Dr. Kahn from UCSF is examining the benefits of an intelligent SMS solution that can automate workflow and drive efficiencies within the healthcare environment." 

Peter Tanner, inventor and founder of Boomerang, concludes, "With 97.5% of text messages read within five seconds of being received. Through SMS, medical organisations can easily communicate with their patients and drive efficiencies within the healthcare environment." 

ENDS. 

About Boomerang - http://www.boomerangsmssolutions.com

Boomerang is the new technology layer that enables any mobile device to be integrated into business processes globally, using SMS. This cloud-based capability enables organisations to automate and accelerate their workflow and business process interactions with customers and stakeholders on a global basis. Boomerang uniquely reaches the worldwide mobile phone user base without the need for expensive smart phones or mobile handset application development. 

For further information, please contact:

Rebekah Ackun                                                 Lauren Hayward/Krista Le Beau

Boomerang                                                       itpr

Tel: +44 (0) 207 224 4331                                   Tel: +44 (0) 1932 578800

Email: [email protected]          Email: [email protected]

Web: www.boomerangsmssolutions.com           Web: www.itpr.co.uk