Texting (SMS)

The problem

OhioHealth follows Associated Press style guidelines with a few custom rules of its own. But when the digital team began texting patients more regularly in 2020, it was clear that some changes or exceptions to longstanding rules were warranted for brevity.

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The solution

We believed keeping our rules as consistent as possible across channels strengthened our identity (and kept all our teams more sane!). So rather than creating a lengthy set of exceptions for texting, we made the decision to implement sweeping changes to modernize outdated rules. We also added a text messaging rule to the guide to standardize opt-in, opt-out and reply conventions, explain when abbreviations would be allowed, and offer recommendations for character counts.

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My role

As the owners of OhioHealth's style, voice and tone, the task fell to my manger and me to investigate. We dove into Google's developer guide and studied how they were representing local businesses online. We compared their style and recommendations to AP Style and other organizations, aligning what we found with the needs identified by our digital team. We also tested character counts, the effect of including links, and the differences between texts received on smartphones and feature phones.​ Once we had crafted our recommendations, we presented them to the digital team, key marketing teams and our leadership for buy-in. The final steps were updating our online style guide and sending a department-wide email about the changes.

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The problem

When COVID-19 vaccines became available to the public, OhioHealth wanted to use text messages to remind people about their appointments and share important things to know before they arrived. 

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The solution

The cadence we first tested was 7, 3, 1: One week, three days and one day before their appointment. Patients were asked to confirm their appointment three days out, but could reply to confirm, reschedule or cancel at any point. The day before their appointment, we provided information about our mask and visitor policies, when to arrive, what to wear and what to bring. 

My role

Content strategist and UX writer.

• I edited the initial messaging drafted by stakeholders, and provided all new copy as needed.

• I collaborated on flows with our UX strategist in Whimsical, and in strategy discussions with our outreach and engagement team.​

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Project highlights

• The messages were dynamic, based on whether a recipient had signed up for MyChart, and if so, whether they had completed eCheck-In. Each text message had a matching autodialer message that I wrote as well. 

• Stakeholders requested we include links to provide patients with additional information. I collaborated with my manager to test the impact of linking within text messages, including how different devices responded to link placement. I also used this as an opportunity to propose and draft a nomenclature convention for redirects. During the pandemic, anchor links and redirects were getting requested frequently, and I grew concerned that without standardization, we could confuse ourselves, our patients and risk burning a format more appropriate for a different campaign. 

• The texts helped minimize no-shows, and expedited the appointment process for those who used eCheck-In through OhioHealth MyChart. 

• By the time I left OhioHealth, vaccines were readily available and the process for getting one was much smoother. As a result, we had begun testing an alternate cadence with fewer messages and less copy. 

The problem

After we launched text message reminders for COVID-19 vaccine appointments, the organization saw the value in using using them for standard in-person and telehealth appointments, and same-day urgent care video visits. 

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Sending reminders for same-day urgent care video visits was an operational challenge because of the short time frame between scheduling and the appointment.

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The solution

Initially, we decided to test sending standard reminders two days before the patient's appointment. Later, we began testing a cadence of three weeks, three days and three hours.

For urgent care video visits, we determined we could send a text confirmation at the time of scheduling, and attempted to send another one hour before the appointment. The second reminder wasn't always delivered, since some patients were treated sooner. 

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My role

Content strategy and UX writer.

• I edited the initial messaging drafted by stakeholders, and provided all new copy as needed.

• I collaborated on flows with our UX strategist in Whimsical, and in strategy discussions with our outreach and engagement team.​

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Project highlights

• When I left OhioHealth, we were exploring how to enable additional communication preferences, so patients would have greater control over how many reminders they received, as well as when and how.

• I used this project as an opportunity to propose rewriting our unsubscribe messaging flow for all text campaigns.