Clinical trial NCT05509270: Efficacy of Communication Modalities for Promoting Flu Shots
Official title: Assessing the Relative Efficacy of Communication Modalities for Messages Promoting Flu Shots
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Influenza Vaccination
Health Promotion
Health Behavior
Risk Reduction
Keywords: Flu Vaccine
Choice Architecture
Machine Learning
Perceived Credibility
Lead sponsor: Geisinger Clinic
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-08-22
Enrollment: 43225
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to test which modalities (mailed letter, short message service \[SMS\] text, or patient portal messages) are most effective for encouraging flu shots in high-risk patients.

Detailed description: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends a flu vaccination to everyone aged 6+ months, with rare exception; almost anyone can benefit from the vaccine, which can reduce illnesses, missed work, hospitalizations, and death. Flu shots are particularly important for patients at high risk of experiencing severe outcomes.

During the 2020-21 and 2021-22 flu seasons, the study team sent messages to Geisinger patients in the top 10% of risk for flu and complications according to an artificial intelligence algorithm. Messages that told patients they were at high risk significantly increased their likelihood of getting vaccinated.

The present study will extend previous work by testing which modality or modalities are most effective at boosting flu shot rates in patients at high risk. In previous campaigns, patients received messages via all communication modalities patients were eligible for (mailed letter, SMS text, and/or patient portal message). In this study, patients will be randomized to receive high-risk messages in one or more modalities.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Included on a list of active Geisinger patients (all patients on this list attended at least one primary care appointment at Geisinger between 10/1/2008 and 4/13/2022, and either had a Geisinger primary care provider assigned as of April 2022, or were in the Electronic Health Record \[EHR\] since at least September 2021 and had at least one encounter in 2020-2022)
* Aged 18 or older
* In the top 10% of risk for flu and flu complications, according to Medial's flu complications machine learning algorithm (which operates on coded EHR data)
* Has a Geisinger PCP assigned as of August 2022
* Has had an encounter in the last 2 years as of August 2022

Exclusion Criteria:

- Cannot be contacted via any of the communication modalities (e.g., letter, patient portal, SMS) being used in the study, either due to insufficient/missing contact information in the EHR or because they opted out of all modalities

Primary outcomes:
measure: Flu vaccination
timeFrame: 4 weeks after the first messages are sent in the study
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
measure: High confidence flu diagnosis
timeFrame: Up to 8 months
measure: "Likely flu" diagnosis
timeFrame: Up to 8 months
measure: Flu complications
timeFrame: Up to 11 months
measure: ER visits
timeFrame: Up to 11 months
measure: Hospitalizations
timeFrame: Up to 11 months
measure: COVID-19 vaccination rates
timeFrame: Up to 8 months
Locations:
city: Danville
country: United States
facility: Geisinger
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: Geisinger Clinic
name: Christopher Chabris, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: