NCT06057727

Behavioral Economics to Improve Flu Vaccination Using EHR Nudges

BE IMMUNE: Behavioral Economics to IMprove and Motivate Vaccination Using Nudges Through the EHR

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 80,039 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study will be a multisite, cluster randomized, pragmatic trial to evaluate the effectiveness of personalized nudges to clinicians and patients, relative to a control, to increase flu vaccination rates among older adults in accordance with CDC guidelines. This will include clinician and patient level nudge interventions, with an additional, intensified nudge intervention for patients identified as high risk for not receiving a flu vaccine. Among the intervention clinics, patients will receive pre-visit text message reminders about the flu vaccine, and clinicians will receive a default pended order in the visit encounter in the EHR, along with monthly peer comparison feedback about their flu vaccine completion rate. Patients identified as high risk for noncompletion will be individually randomized to receive an additional bidirectional text message nudge or the standard text messaging.

Detailed description

Many older adults are at risk of illness, hospitalization, and death from vaccine-preventable diseases. More than half of older adults in the United States are not vaccinated for flu which has remained relatively constant over the past decade, and there are racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in care. In this study, we will evaluate personalized nudges to clinicians and patients to help increase flu vaccination rates during primary care visits among older adults, with a particular focus on population subgroups at high risk for vaccine noncompletion. In a partnership between Penn Medicine and University of Washington (UW) Medicine, this will be a 6-month, multisite, cluster randomized, pragmatic trial with an additional intensification arm for high-risk patients.

Conditions

• Behavior, Health
• Flu
• Flu Vaccination

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Pre-visit patient text messaging	Patients will be sent text message reminders 3 days and 24 hours prior to their scheduled primary care visit. The messages will inform the patient that a flu shot has been reserved for them at their upcoming appointment and encouraging the patient to ask their provider about receiving the vaccine.
BEHAVIORAL	Default pended order	A default pended order for the flu vaccine will be pended to the patient's upcoming primary care encounter and will be visible to the provider during the visit encounter. Clinical staff will have the option of signing the order or dismissing it if they deem it inappropriate for a given patient.
BEHAVIORAL	Monthly peer comparison feedback	Each month, clinicians will be sent an email containing what percent of their eligible patients received the flu vaccine and how that compares to other peer clinicians in the intervention.
BEHAVIORAL	High risk bidirectional pre-visit text messaging	High risk patients randomized to receive the high risk intensification nudge will receive a bidirectional text messaging component prior to their visit. This intervention will query the patient about common questions or concerns about receiving the flu vaccine. If the patient responds, it will provide additional educational materials based on the patient's specific concern(s).

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-09-25
• Primary completion: 2024-02-20
• Completion: 2024-05-20
• First posted: 2023-09-28
• Last updated: 2025-04-27
• Results posted: 2025-04-27

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States