To the Editor: Readers may be interested to learn of an SMS notification system introduced in South Australia to facilitate the retrieval of cornea donations.

The South Australian Department of Health has recently completed the 5-year implementation of its “careconnect.sa” clinical information system (formerly known as the OACIS program), a system which supports clinical activities across the eight major Adelaide metropolitan public hospitals.1

A relatively simple and inexpensive enhancement to the system has been the use of short message service (SMS) text messaging to notify the Eye Bank of South Australia of a potential corneal donor.

Following the recording of an inpatient death in the hospital patient administration system, an SMS death notification comprising the relevant medical record number, hospital location and time of death is automatically generated by the OACIS gateway and sent to selected recipients, including the Eye Bank of South Australia. Staff can then check the potential donor’s clinical details online via OACIS to obtain accurate information on the person’s suitability as a donor and also to cross check the National Organ Donor Registry to determine whether the person is registered as a donor.

Before SMS notification, Eye Bank staff made many calls daily to the major public hospitals to obtain information on recent deaths. Medical or nursing staff would then sift through the medical record to determine whether the patient might be a potential donor and to obtain next-of-kin details. SMS notification has resulted in less disruption to hospital staff, as well as considerable time savings. The whole process of retrieval is now easier and timelier.

The actual number of corneal retrievals has increased since the introduction of the new SMS notification system. There has also been a substantial reduction in the number of corneal transplants postponed because no cornea was available. Donations are now retrieved earlier and more efficiently. The development of the system also corresponds with a shift to South Australia becoming a net exporter of corneal tissue.

The SMS notification system demonstrates how relatively simple information and communications technology can be applied to make a substantial impact on clinical practice and outcomes.