Evaluation of Emails Promoting Mail-order Pharmacy

Health Care Utilization Clinical Trial

Official title:

Evaluation of an Email Intervention Promoting Enrollment in Mail-order Pharmacy

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04587063
• Other study ID #: 2020-0482
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 13, 2020
• Est. completion date: October 20, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: October 2020
• Source: Geisinger Clinic
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

In this evaluation, four versions of emails will be sent to eligible health plan members who are not currently enrolled in the health system's mail-order pharmacy. A control group will not receive any communication. The researchers hypothesize that the use of content informed by behavioral nudge theory in the emails should lead to increased enrollment in the health system's mail-order pharmacy.

Description:

The utilization of a mail-order pharmacy can increase adherence to medications. The health system's mail-order pharmacy (from here, simply referred to as mail-order pharmacy) can also provide reduced costs for medications. Ongoing outreach efforts involve sending emails and other communications encouraging enrollment in Geisinger's mail-order pharmacy to eligible members of the system's health plan (i.e., those who take maintenance medications). The study will compare a standard promotional email from these outreach efforts, as well as three new emails with content informed by behavioral science research, against a no-contact control arm and each other.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 5266
• Est. completion date: October 20, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: October 20, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• An active member of the health plan (Medicare, Commercial, or Exchange)

• Currently prescribed maintenance medications

• Not currently subscribed to the health system's mail-order pharmacy

• Has an email on record

Exclusion Criteria:

• Explicitly opted out of receiving emails from the health system

• Only has eligible current prescriptions for fewer than 28 days

• Only has prescriptions that cannot be sent via mail-order pharmacy (e.g., antidepressants, specialty-tier drugs)

• Is a Medicare member in the coverage gap

• Shares an email address with another selected participant (who was randomly chosen for inclusion among all those sharing the same email address)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Health Care Utilization

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Fear Appeals
Email
• Message about Future Healthcare Costs
Email
• Endorsement from a Doctor
Email
• Comparison Table
Email
• Highlighting Cost Savings and Convenience
Email

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Geisinger	Danville	Pennsylvania

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Geisinger Clinic

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Mail-order Pharmacy Enrollment	Binary variable indicating if there was an enrollment in the health system's mail order pharmacy	1 week from the intervention
Secondary	Email Opens	Binary variable indicating if the email was opened	1 week from the intervention
Secondary	Email Link Click	Binary variable indicating if the link to the mail-order pharmacy website was clicked	1 week from the intervention
Secondary	Email Unsubscribes	Binary variable indicating if the recipient requested to unsubscribe from receiving emails from the health system	1 week from the intervention