Healthcare consulting firm Healthy Heartland is set to pilot a new service in the US called Carewire that enables patients to register their level of satisfaction with treatment via text message.  The service has yet to launch commercially but Healthy Heartland says it is gearing up for “multiple” pilots during the first quarter of 2012.  Patients receive an automated text message following an appointment which asks them to rate their experience.  Co-founder Scott Danielson told Medcity News that the service operated as “an early sensing, early warning system” for healthcare providers of any dissatisfaction among their patients.

The start-up is backed by a Chicago-based health technology incubator fund called Healthbox. Carewire is one of ten firms supported by the fund during  a three-month programme. Healthbox itself has a range of investors including Sandbox Industries, the BlueCross Blue Shield Venture Fund and Walgreens. Carewire has not disclosed the identity of the healthcare providers participating in its trials.