Clinical trial NCT04333199: Timely Nudge About Lab Results to Increase myGeisinger Uptake
Official title: Nudging myGeisinger Enrollment Using Timely Email Messaging Reminding Patients of Lab Results Available
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Telehealth
Health Behavior
Keywords: Behavioral Economics
Patient Portal
Lead sponsor: Geisinger Clinic
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-04-03
Enrollment: 5012
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Every day within the designated study period, an email will be sent to patients who 1) fulfill inclusion criteria, 2) have been randomized to one of the email conditions (rather than the control group), and 3) have not already been randomized to a study condition on a previous day (i.e. no patient will be emailed for this study twice).
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: The purpose of the current study is to test whether sending email communications in a timely manner - when patients have laboratory results available to view on the myGeisinger patient portal - increases enrollment in the portal.

Detailed description: Online patient portals are convenient tools that improve patient access to healthcare services while often reducing burden to both patients and providers. However, many patients have not enrolled in such portals, including Geisinger's patient portal, known as myGeisinger.

The purpose of the current study is to test whether sending myGeisinger enrollment information in a timely manner - when the benefits of enrolling are most readily available - increases enrollment. Specifically, messages will be timely in terms of lab test results having just been made available online, with the added benefit that patients can view their results prior to receiving them via mail. Unenrolled patients who recently had a laboratory procedure ordered and whose results are now ready for sharing will be informed via email that their lab results are available. At the same time, these patients will be reminded that these results can be viewed online through myGeisinger.

The primary outcome measure of interest, myGeisinger enrollment rates, will be compared between the emailed population and a control group that similarly has lab results available but will not be contacted. In addition, two different versions of the email communication will be tested. One will highlight that the patient will have to go through a sign-up process before viewing test results (in the service of transparency). The other will provide a presumed direct link to view those results, via a button that potentially serves as a pre-commitment step to undergo the registration process ("foot in the door" effect). Secondary analyses will assess differences in enrollment rates as well as unsubscribe rates between the email versions. Exploratory analyses will further examine differences in the rates at which patients opened and clicked on enrollment links within the two emails. Statistical analyses will employ generalized linear models with a binary distribution and log-link function.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Geisinger patient for whom a lab was ordered within 30 days prior to email date
* Patient's lab test result released day before email date

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patient already enrolled in myGeisinger
* Patient has already declined myGeisinger

Primary outcomes:
measure: Enrollment - Timely Email (Combined Email Arms) vs. no Intervention
timeFrame: 1 week post-intervention
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Enrollment - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button
timeFrame: 1 week post-intervention
measure: Email Opened - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button
timeFrame: 1 week post-intervention
measure: Link Clicked - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button
timeFrame: 1 week post-intervention
measure: Unsubscribed - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button
timeFrame: 1 month post-intervention
measure: Enrollment - Timely Email (Combined Email Arms) vs. no Intervention
timeFrame: 1 month post-intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Danville
country: United States
facility: Geisinger
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: Geisinger Clinic
name: Amir Goren, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: