Southwestern Vermont Health Care is a health system providing services to residents of the Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts, and eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York. It’s also yet another example of a healthcare provider harnessing the power of SMS. The provider is encouraging the surrounding community to make healthy choices through a new service that sends inspiring text messages about well-being.

Wondering about the power of SMS text messaging? This method of communication havs been used as strategic marketing techniques for years now, bringing success to many businesses. It’s currently bringing patients into doctor’s offices as well, and helping to keep our population up to date on vaccines.

In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton. This legislation was designed to improve the continuity of information across the medical industry including insurance coverage for groups and individuals, as well as to fight against fraud and bureaucratic waste.

HIPAA, however, was written before the full breadth of the Internet had been realized and was well before the mass digitalization of personal records.