The American Journal of Public Health recently published the results of a collaborative study between the University of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Community Health. Under investigation was the responsiveness of parents having their child(ren) immunized for H1N1 when sent a reminder, verses without a reminder. Researchers targeted those parents of high risk children due to other chronic health conditions like asthma or diabetes.

Results showed vaccination rates were higher for children whose parents received the reminder vaccination letter, than for those children whose parent A) didn’t receive a letter because it was undeliverable OR B) didn’t receive a letter because the child wasn’t considered high risk.

The lesson for us? Reminders work. That’s exactly why we send reminder emails to parents (or eligible students), that information is needed for their SMR account. If their account is missing information, if it’s overdue, if a next action is needed, if a due date is approaching – they’re getting reminder emails until the required action is taken.

People say communication is key. Personally I’m a bit over that adage but hey, it helps me make my point. In the study, in student health, and in life in general, communication is a driving cause of results. Schools cannot expect responses from parents without communicating to them what is required. And it’s become quite commonplace to have to tell someone something more than once. So tell them, and tell them again. Remind them what you need, and when that is expected.

Because making phone calls and sending letters is quite burdensome, we’ve designed SMR to take that administrative task off your plate while still obtaining the desired results. Automated reminders make it all possible, and enable health staff, admissions offices, and any other department to put the phone down and get back to their core duties. Thus, reminders are on the back-burner for the school, but on the forefront for parents.

Want to see health information roll in quickly? Send automated reminders. If parents and students don’t submit the information for their own health and well-being; if they don’t submit the information because it’s required for the student to attend class; if they don’t send it because it’s habit and expected – they’ll submit it to stop the reminders. Because that’s how it works; once all information is received and complete, the reminders stop. The logic behind it is really quite simple – do what’s asked, the information is on file, the reminders stop, and everyone’s happy, happy, happy.

Want to see how these helpful little reminders actually work?

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