no Specific Condition TargetedNCT02053844
Analyzing the Impact of the Now iKnow Health Care Price Transparency Tool
A study testing lottery for tool users to win a $500 prize and enhanced promotion of the tool to employers and members in people with no Specific Condition Targeted and Use of a Price Transparency Tool, run by Alison Galbraith at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
This project aims to assess the impact of a web-based health care cost and quality tool that is being implemented by a health plan for its members. The study will focus on members working for medium to large employers that have more than 90% of employees enrolled in deductible and tiered network health plans. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Any age
- Conditions the study is for
- no Specific Condition Targeted, Use of a Price Transparency Tool
- What is being tested?
- lottery for tool users to win a $500 prize and enhanced promotion of the tool to employers and members
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 81,000 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Aug 2014to Dec 2015
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages Any age
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Health plan members from employers with at least 40 subscribers, of which at least 90% are currently in deductible plans or tiered network plans, and of which at least 80% were in deductible or tiered network plans in the prior year
Who cannot join
- Members in non-group accounts and members in Medicare plans; members in states outside Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Maine
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Wellesley, Massachusetts, 02481
About this study
This project aims to assess the impact of a web-based health care cost and quality tool that is being implemented by a health plan for its members. The study will focus on members working for medium to large employers that have more than 90% of employees enrolled in deductible and tiered network health plans. The study will use an interrupted time series (ITS) design that includes random allocation of half of these employers to a study arm that will receive enhanced promotion of the tool and a $500 lottery incentive for its use in order to increase take-up. With these two study groups (a "high-dose" group receiving enhanced promotion and a lottery, and a "low-dose" group receiving routine promotion of the tool), the study will be able to evaluate whether access to a price transparency tool leads to reduced costs and more value-driven member behavior, and whether extra promotion increases take-up.
Members in the high-dose group who use the tool will be eligible to enter a monthly lottery to win a $500 prize during the 12-month intervention period. In addition to the lottery, employers in the high-dose group will receive additional promotional strategies such as a mailing and messages through the plan's member web portal to promote the tool and the lottery, and e-mails and flyers for employers to promote the tool and lottery to employees.
The aims of this project are to: 1) examine take-up of the tool and factors that predict take-up; and 2) to examine the impact of the tool on total and out-of-pocket health care costs and utilization
- Being tested
- lottery for tool users to win a $500 prize, enhanced promotion of the tool to employers and members
- Keywords
- health care costs, quality of health care
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
lottery for tool users to win a $500 prizeOther
Intervention group is eligible to enter a monthly lottery to win a $500 gift card if they use the tool each month.
enhanced promotion of the tool to employers and membersOther
Intervention group also receives extra promotion of the tool through mailings, employer outreach, and automated phone calls
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| lottery and enhanced promotion of tool | Experimental | tool users in the intervention arm will be eligible to enter a monthly lottery to win one of two monthly drawings of a $500 gift card, and will receive enhanced promotion of the tool (mailed promotion, promotional message on the member web portal, and promotion through employers to employees) Receives: Other: lottery for tool users to win a $500 prize; Other: enhanced promotion of the tool to employers and members |
| usual promotion of the tool | No intervention | Routine promotion of the tool through newsletter and on health plan web site |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
mean per-member-per-month total health care costs
employer level per-member-per-month total costs based on claims data
Measured: monthly for 12 months
Secondary outcomes (3)
percent of subjects using the tool
Based on tool usage tracking data
Measured: measured quarterly for 12 months
mean per-member-per-month out-of-pocket costs
employer level per-member-per-month out-of-pocket costs based on claims data
Measured: monthly for 12 months
per-member-per-month utilization of health care services
Employer-level utilization of health services based on claims data, including emergency department visits, encounters, lab services, radiology services, inpatient hospitalizations, MRIs, prescriptions
Measured: monthly for 12 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted4 Feb 2014 (estimated)
- Study startAug 2014
- Primary completionDec 2015
- Study completionDec 2015
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for no Specific Condition TargetedStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 81,000 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Alison Galbraith
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Responsible party
- Sponsor-investigator, Alison Galbraith, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Investigators
- Alison Galbraith, MD, MPH, Study director, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical SchoollJonathan Gruber, PhD, Principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02053844
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 5P30AG012810-20
- Other IDs
- 5P01AG005842-27
- Status last verified
- Aug 2016
- First submitted
- 31 Jan 2014
- Last updated
- 19 Aug 2016
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 19 Aug 2016. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Analyzing the Impact of the Now iKnow Health Care Price Transparency Tool
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02053844
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 5P30AG012810-20
- Keywords
- health care costs, quality of health care
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 81,000 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Alison GalbraithUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Study start
- Aug 2014
- Primary completion
- Dec 2015 (actual)
- Study completion
- Dec 2015 (actual)
- First posted
- 4 Feb 2014 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This project aims to assess the impact of a web-based health care cost and quality tool that is being implemented by a health plan for its members. The study will focus on members working for medium to large employers that have more than 90% of employees enrolled in deductible and tiered network health plans. The study will use an interrupted time series (ITS) design that includes random allocation of half of these employers to a study arm that will receive enhanced promotion of the tool and a $500 lottery incentive for its use in order to increase take-up. With these two study groups (a "high-dose" group receiving enhanced promotion and a lottery, and a "low-dose" group receiving routine promotion of the tool), the study will be able to evaluate whether access to a price transparency tool leads to reduced costs and more value-driven member behavior, and whether extra promotion increases take-up.
Members in the high-dose group who use the tool will be eligible to enter a monthly lottery to win a $500 prize during the 12-month intervention period. In addition to the lottery, employers in the high-dose group will receive additional promotional strategies such as a mailing and messages through the plan's member web portal to promote the tool and the lottery, and e-mails and flyers for employers to promote the tool and lottery to employees.
The aims of this project are to: 1) examine take-up of the tool and factors that predict take-up; and 2) to examine the impact of the tool on total and out-of-pocket health care costs and utilization
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| lottery and enhanced promotion of tool | Experimental | Other: lottery for tool users to win a $500 prize, Other: enhanced promotion of the tool to employers and memberstool users in the intervention arm will be eligible to enter a monthly lottery to win one of two monthly drawings of a $500 gift card, and will receive enhanced promotion of the tool (mailed promotion, promotional message on the member web portal, and promotion through employers to employees) |
| usual promotion of the tool | No intervention | –Routine promotion of the tool through newsletter and on health plan web site |
Who may qualify
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Health plan members from employers with at least 40 subscribers, of which at least 90% are currently in deductible plans or tiered network plans, and of which at least 80% were in deductible or tiered network plans in the prior year
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Members in non-group accounts and members in Medicare plans; members in states outside Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Maine
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| lottery for tool users to win a $500 prizeIntervention group is eligible to enter a monthly lottery to win a $500 gift card if they use the tool each month. | Other | lottery and enhanced promotion of tool |
| enhanced promotion of the tool to employers and membersIntervention group also receives extra promotion of the tool through mailings, employer outreach, and automated phone calls | Other | lottery and enhanced promotion of tool |
Primary outcome
mean per-member-per-month total health care costs
Time frame: monthly for 12 months
employer level per-member-per-month total costs based on claims data
3 secondary outcomes
percent of subjects using the tool
Time frame: measured quarterly for 12 months
mean per-member-per-month out-of-pocket costs
Time frame: monthly for 12 months
per-member-per-month utilization of health care services
Time frame: monthly for 12 months
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 19 Aug 2016.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Recruiting
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no Specific Condition Targeted
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Alison Galbraith, MD, MPH study director
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical Schooll
Jonathan Gruber, PhD principal investigator
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing lottery for tool users to win a $500 prize and enhanced promotion of the tool to employers and members in people with no Specific Condition Targeted and Use of a Price Transparency Tool, run by Alison Galbraith at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 19 Aug 2016. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
mean per-member-per-month total health care costs (time frame: monthly for 12 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 19 Aug 2016.