Encouraging Overdue Healthcare Appointment Scheduling Among Patients With Chronic Diseases

Prevention Clinical Trial

Official title:

Encouraging Overdue Healthcare Appointment Scheduling Among Patients With Chronic Diseases

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05000619
• Other study ID #: 2021-0442
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: July 12, 2021
• Est. completion date: August 26, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: November 2022
• Source: Geisinger Clinic
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this study is to determine the most effective messages for encouraging patients with chronic conditions, who have not seen their doctor in at least one year, to return to the clinic. Study participants will receive postcards or letters encouraging them to make an appointment. Researchers will assess whether messages increase appointment scheduling (and attendance).

Description:

About 18,500 Geisinger patients, Geisinger Health Plan members, and Medicaid patients with chronic illness have not been seen in a clinic for at least one year, which is concerning because regular appointments are necessary for chronic disease management. Geisinger is therefore working to encourage those with chronic illness and overdue appointments to return to the clinic.

In the present study, patients will either receive a mailer (with a message encouraging them to schedule an appointment with their physician), or no mailer. The purpose of the study is to compare three different mailers to assess which is most effective at encouraging patients to schedule and attend an appointment. The three mailers include (1) a standard outreach postcard (emphasizing that we are "checking in" with the patient), and, informed by behavioral science research, (2) a postcard with a cartoon and humorous messages and (3) a letter signed by a physician. The study will compare the effectiveness of the three experimental mailer arms to each other and to a no-contact control arm.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 21562
• Est. completion date: August 26, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: August 26, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Geisinger patient, Geisinger Health Plan member or Medicaid patient

• Chronic illness

• No appointment for > 1 year

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Chronic Disease
• Health Promotion
• Prevention
• Risk Reduction Behavior

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Outreach mailer
Postcard or letter
• Humor/Salience
Funny cartoon
• Doctor's authority
Letter from a doctor
• Information
Information about benefits of the appointment

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
Other	Patients - Appointment scheduling - Comparing mailers	Proportion of Geisinger patients who schedule an appointment, comparing relative efficacy of the interventions. Note: this analysis will inform internal operations but will not be reported in publication.	14 days
Other	Patients - Calls to scheduling line	Proportion of Geisinger patients who call the appointment scheduling line.	30 days
Primary	Patients - Appointment scheduling	Proportion of Geisinger patients who schedule an appointment	30 days
Secondary	Patients - Appointment scheduling - Comparing mailers	Proportion of Geisinger patients who schedule an appointment, comparing relative efficacy of the mailers	30 days
Secondary	Patients - Attendance at scheduled appointments within 180 days of mailer	Proportion of appointments (from the primary outcome) that were attended. This outcome focuses on attendance at appointments that were scheduled within 30 days of the mailer drop date.; It is possible to schedule an appointment months in advance, so the Time Frame needs to be long to capture attendance at any appointment scheduled within 30 days of the mailer. 180 days should be sufficient to capture all scheduled appointments.	180 days
Secondary	Patients, Members & Medicaid - Attendance at any appointment	Attendance at any appointment within 30 days of drop date	30 days
Secondary	Patients, Members & Medicaid - Attendance at any appointment	Attendance at any appointment within 90 days of drop date	90 days
Secondary	Patients, Members & Medicaid - Attendance at any appointment	Attendance at any appointment within 180 days of drop date	180 days
Secondary	Patients, Members & Medicaid - Timing of appointment	Number of days between the drop date and any appointment captured in Secondary Outcome 3	30 days
Secondary	Patients, Members & Medicaid - Timing of appointment	Number of days between the drop date and any appointment captured in Secondary Outcome 4	90 days
Secondary	Patients, Members & Medicaid - Timing of appointment	Number of days between the drop date and any appointment captured in Secondary Outcome 5	180 days