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Patient EngagementNCT02522286

Creating a Zone of Openness to Increase Patient-Centered Care

A study testing Ask 3 Questions and Open Communication in people with Patient Engagement and Physician's Role, run by Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

This study implements a simple evidence-based patient activation intervention - "Ask 3 Questions"- augmented by a novel theory-based intervention - "Open Communication" - aimed at activating patients and healthcare providers. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
What is being tested?
Ask 3 Questions and Open Communication
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
300 participants
Where
No sites listed yet
Study dates
Jun 2014to May 2015
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

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 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Any patient with a scheduled appointment with the participating family medicine and internal medicine physicians during the study period.

Who cannot join

  • Non-English speakers
  • Patients younger than 18

About this study

This study implements a simple evidence-based patient activation intervention - "Ask 3 Questions"- augmented by a novel theory-based intervention - "Open Communication" - aimed at activating patients and healthcare providers. The goal of this project is to increase patient and physician's preparedness for more having more questions, expressing differing opinions, and working collaboratively in making medical decisions that are both informed and responsive to patients' needs and preferences.

Read the detailed description

Conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) to compare two interventions, "Ask 3 Questions," "Open Communication," a combination of both "Ask 3 Questions" and "Open Communication," to a usual care control condition. These data will inform a potential future large scale evaluation of the interventions in clinical practice. Consistent with a patient-centered approach, outcome measures are selected in collaboration with a group of patient stakeholders and will include measures of patient satisfaction. The study aims to collect 75 post-visit surveys and 10 appointment audio-recordings from patients at each of 4 participating sites (a total of 300 post-visit surveys and 40 audio-recordings).

Being tested
Ask 3 Questions, Open Communication
Keywords
patient engagement, physician's role, patient- centered care, communication
Medical subject headings
Patient Participation, Communication

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Ask 3 QuestionsBehavioural

    Participants were asked to bring an "Ask 3" questions flyer into their appointment to use if they needed to make a choice about their health care during their appointment. These 3 questions have been shown to help patients make more informed decisions about their healthcare.

  • Open CommunicationBehavioural

    Open Communication includes a combination of interventions. 1) Participants used a Visit Companion Booklet to write out issues they would like to discuss with their physician during their appointment before showing up. They were also asked to write out any next steps decided on during their appointment and to repeat back to their doctor what they wrote before leaving.

    1. Patients watched a short, informational cartoon video to better understand the Visit Companion Booklet.
    2. Participating physicians received a training through the use of a Standardized Patient Instructor as a means of providing convenient, individualized training on communication techniques. Dyads (physicians and their medical assistants) were trained on how to incorporate the Visit Companion Booklet into workflow.
Study groups in NCT02522286
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Usual CareNo interventionStandard clinical care in primary care offices
Ask 3 QuestionsExperimentalPatients using 3 questions to their physicians when making medical decisions during the office visit.
Receives: Behavioral: Ask 3 Questions
Open CommunicationExperimentalThis arm has three components: (1) Patients, physicians, and medical assistants watching a video aimed at encouraging open communication; (2) Patients fill out a Visit Companion Booklet about what are the most important issues they want to discuss with their physicians, record their next steps, and teach back on their next steps; (3) physicians receiving communication coaching from a Standardized Patient Instructor on patient-centered communication.
Receives: Behavioral: Open Communication
Ask 3 Questions + Open CommunicationExperimentalA combination of both the Ask 3 and Open Communication arms.
Receives: Behavioral: Ask 3 Questions; Behavioral: Open Communication

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Patient Rating of Shared Decision Making

    Responses from CollaboRATE, a 3-question validated patient reported measure of shared decision making. Patients answered questions on a scale of 0 ("definitely disagree") to 9 ("definitely agree"). The CollaboRATE questions are as follows: 1) How much effort was made to help you understand your health issues? 2) How much effort was made to listen to the things that matter most to you about your health issues?, 3) How much effort was made to include what matters most to you in choosing what to do next? The outcome measure was the percent of patients who gave the top score of 9 on all three questions.

    Measured: Day 1 (outcomes measures were assessed once for each participant)

  2. Doctor Facilitation Subscale of the Perceived Involvement in Care Scale

    "Responses from this patient reported measure regarding their attitudes of doctor facilitation of patient involvement for their illness management. Patients rated 5 statements on a scale of 0 (""definitely disagree"") to 9 (""definitely agree""). The statements are as follows: 1) My doctor encouraged me to talk about personal concerns related to my medical symptoms, 2) My doctor asked me what I believe is causing my medical symptoms, 3) My doctor gave me a complete explanation for my medical symptoms or treatment, 4) My doctor encouraged me to give my opinion about my medical treatment, 5) My doctor asked me whether I agree with his/her decisions. The outcome measure was the percent of patients who gave the top score of 9 on all five statements.

    Measured: Day 1 (outcomes measures were assessed once for each participant)

  3. Patient Responses to Stakeholder Generated Questions

    Patient responses to statements that were generated by the study's patient and physicians stakeholders regarding how they felt during their appointment. Patients rated 5 statements, described below, on a scale of 0 (definitely disagree) to 9 (definitely agree). The outcome measure is the percent of patients that responded with a top score of "9." Statement 1: My doctor and I accomplished my most important goals today. Statement 2: I feel cared for. Statement 3: I feel comfortable being open with my doctor. Statement 4: I felt my doctor was open with me. Statement 5: I know what my next steps are.

    Measured: Day 1 (outcomes measures were assessed once for each participant)

  4. Patients' Feeling of Respect by Their Doctor

    Patient responses to one statement modified from Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) regarding the respect they felt from their doctor. Patients rated the statement "My doctor showed respect for what I had to say," on a scale of 1 ("definitely disagree") to 4 ("definitely agree"). The outcome measure was the percentage of patients that gave the top score of 4 on this statement.

    Measured: Day 1 (outcomes measures were assessed once for each participant)

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Option 5 Shared Decision Making Score

    Researchers measured the shared decision making process that occurs between patients and physicians during the appointment using a method called OPTION5. Researchers listened to audio-recorded patient appointments, identified any topic, defined as "a health issue where alternate treatment or management option exist/where the need for a decision exists," and then measured each topic for each of the OPTION5 items on a scale of 0 ("no effort: nothing observed or heard") to 20 (exemplary effort: excellent, careful attention to communication around the ideas and issues, with checks on understanding," for each of the 5 items described below. The total score is a sum of the scores from each of the 5 items at the clinic.

    Item 1: presenting options Item 2: establishing a partnership with the patient Item 3: describing pros and cons of options Item 4: eliciting patient preferences Item 5: integrating patient preferences into the decision

    Measured: Day 1 (outcomes measures were assessed once for each participant based on analysis of the audio recording of their visits)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted13 Aug 2015 (estimated)
  2. Study startJun 2014
  3. Primary completionApr 2015
  4. Study completionMay 2015

Resources

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
Factorial
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
300 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02522286
Sponsor's protocol ID
37930708
Other IDs
PCORI-1IP2PI000055-01
Status last verified
Sep 2017
First submitted
16 May 2015
Last updated
20 Jul 2018
Data monitoring committee
No

Publications

  • Barr PJ, Thompson R, Walsh T, Grande SW, Ozanne EM, Elwyn G. The psychometric properties of CollaboRATE: a fast and frugal patient-reported measure of the shared decision-making process. J Med Internet Res. 2014 Jan 3;16(1):e2. doi: 10.2196/jmir.3085.

    PubMed 24389354
  • Lerman CE, Brody DS, Caputo GC, Smith DG, Lazaro CG, Wolfson HG. Patients' Perceived Involvement in Care Scale: relationship to attitudes about illness and medical care. J Gen Intern Med. 1990 Jan-Feb;5(1):29-33. doi: 10.1007/BF02602306.

    PubMed 2299426
  • Elwyn G, Hutchings H, Edwards A, Rapport F, Wensing M, Cheung WY, Grol R. The OPTION scale: measuring the extent that clinicians involve patients in decision-making tasks. Health Expect. 2005 Mar;8(1):34-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1369-7625.2004.00311.x.

    PubMed 15713169
  • Tai-Seale M, Elwyn G, Wilson CJ, Stults C, Dillon EC, Li M, Chuang J, Meehan A, Frosch DL. Enhancing Shared Decision Making Through Carefully Designed Interventions That Target Patient And Provider Behavior. Health Aff (Millwood). 2016 Apr;35(4):605-12. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2015.1398.

    PubMed 27044959

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Ask 3 Questions and Open Communication in people with Patient Engagement and Physician's Role, run by Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

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 2 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 20 Jul 2018. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

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?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 20 Jul 2018). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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?

Patient Rating of Shared Decision Making (time frame: Day 1 (outcomes measures were assessed once for each participant)). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02522286, which also lists 4 linked publications.

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 20 Jul 2018.

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