NCT05000619

Encouraging Overdue Healthcare Appointment Scheduling Among Patients With Chronic Diseases

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 21,562 (actual)
• Sponsor: Geisinger Clinic · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

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).

Detailed 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.

Conditions

• Health Promotion
• Prevention
• Risk Reduction Behavior

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Outreach mailer	Postcard or letter
BEHAVIORAL	Humor/Salience	Funny cartoon
BEHAVIORAL	Doctor's authority	Letter from a doctor
BEHAVIORAL	Information	Information about benefits of the appointment

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-07-12
• Primary completion: 2021-08-26
• Completion: 2022-08-26
• First posted: 2021-08-11
• Last updated: 2022-12-01

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States