Would people pay for text messaging health reminders?

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Behavior Interventions
• Telemedicine

Background:

• Adherence to healthy regimens is crucial for preventive health.
• Telehealth services offer innovative solutions for behavior modification.
• Text messaging reminders are a low-cost, accessible digital health tool.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine acceptable time and financial limitations for telehealth text reminder services.
• To assess user willingness to pay for a telehealth adherence program.
• To understand factors influencing continued use of digital health interventions.

Main Methods:

• An empirical study involving a 1-month trial of a prototype telehealth system.
• Fifty-one participants received daily text message reminders for vitamin C adherence.
• Post-trial surveys assessed willingness to pay and continue service use.

Main Results:

• Only 45% of participants would continue a free service indefinitely.
• With a fee, 29% would use the service for a few weeks, while 28% would use it indefinitely.
• The median acceptable monthly fee was $5.
• Perceived usefulness significantly influenced willingness to use and pay for the service.

Conclusions:

• Perceived benefit is a key driver for sustained engagement with telehealth services.
• Users are more likely to continue using a service if they deem it useful, even with a fee.
• A free service's long-term viability depends on its perceived value and benefit.