Chacko Jincy, Mazza Kathleen, Stathakos Kimon, Kim Doran, Carlo Lorena
Population Health Informatics, Northwell Health, New York City, USA.
Health Informatics, School of Health Professions, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA.
Cureus. 2025 Feb 22;17(2):e79467. doi: 10.7759/cureus.79467. eCollection 2025 Feb.
Preventive care is crucial in early disease detection and management, potentially reducing the need for extensive treatments and lowering healthcare costs. The integration of technology in health communication, especially through chatbots and SMS, offers innovative pathways to enhance patient adherence to recommended preventive screenings. However, evidence of the utility of these technologies outside immunization remains sparse. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the impacts of technology-based patient outreach methods, specifically chatbots and SMS, on response rates and care gap closures in preventive care screenings beyond immunizations. Utilizing the Patient/Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome (PICO) framework, this review searched five databases, including PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital Library, between January 2024 and July 2024. The search focused on studies evaluating the use of technology-based instruments like chatbots and mobile SMS, comparing them with traditional methods such as phone calls and mail. The primary outcomes investigated were response rates, failure to deliver, and the overall effectiveness of these technologies in the uptake of preventive screening measures. The search yielded 132 articles, with 10 meeting the inclusion criteria for full review. The findings highlight the significant potential of chatbots and SMS to enhance outreach programs for preventive care measure uptake, aligning with value-based care goals. However, the review highlighted the need for further methodologically robust research in this area that incorporates emerging technologies to strengthen conclusions. There is also a dearth of studies that evaluate emerging technologies like chatbots and address non-immunization preventative measures such as cancer screening and diabetes care. There is a noticeable gap in studies providing evidence on the cost-effectiveness of these technologies. While using chatbots and SMS in health communications appears promising, more comprehensive studies are required to understand their impact and cost-effectiveness in non-immunization screenings fully. Addressing these gaps is vital for developing scalable and sustainable preventive care strategies that can be integrated into the healthcare system.
预防性护理在疾病的早期检测和管理中至关重要，有可能减少广泛治疗的需求并降低医疗成本。将技术整合到健康沟通中，特别是通过聊天机器人和短信，为提高患者对推荐的预防性筛查的依从性提供了创新途径。然而，这些技术在免疫接种之外的效用证据仍然稀少。本系统综述旨在评估基于技术的患者外展方法，特别是聊天机器人和短信，对免疫接种以外的预防性护理筛查的响应率和护理差距缩小的影响。本综述利用患者/人群、干预措施、对照、结局（PICO）框架，在2024年1月至2024年7月期间检索了五个数据库，包括PubMed、CINAHL、Embase、IEEE Xplore和ACM数字图书馆。搜索重点是评估使用聊天机器人和移动短信等基于技术的工具的研究，并将它们与电话和邮件等传统方法进行比较。调查的主要结局是响应率、未送达率以及这些技术在采用预防性筛查措施方面的整体有效性。搜索共得到132篇文章，其中10篇符合全面审查的纳入标准。研究结果凸显了聊天机器人和短信在加强预防性护理措施采用的外展项目方面的巨大潜力，这与基于价值的护理目标相一致。然而，该综述强调需要在这一领域进行进一步方法上稳健的研究，纳入新兴技术以加强结论。此外，评估聊天机器人等新兴技术并涉及癌症筛查和糖尿病护理等非免疫接种预防性措施的研究也很匮乏。在提供这些技术成本效益证据的研究方面存在明显差距。虽然在健康沟通中使用聊天机器人和短信似乎很有前景，但需要更全面的研究来充分了解它们在非免疫接种筛查中的影响和成本效益。弥补这些差距对于制定可扩展和可持续的预防性护理策略至关重要，这些策略可融入医疗保健系统。
