Health Care UtilizationNCT04587063
Evaluation of Emails Promoting Mail-order Pharmacy
A study testing Fear Appeals, Message about Future Healthcare Costs and Endorsement from a Doctor in people with Health Care Utilization, run by Geisinger Clinic at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
In this evaluation, four versions of emails will be sent to eligible health plan members who are not currently enrolled in the health system's mail-order pharmacy. A control group will not receive any communication. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Health Care Utilization
- What is being tested?
- Fear Appeals, Message about Future Healthcare Costs and Endorsement from a Doctor
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 5,266 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 13 Oct 2020to 20 Oct 2020
- 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 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- An active member of the health plan (Medicare, Commercial, or Exchange)
- Currently prescribed maintenance medications
- Not currently subscribed to the health system's mail-order pharmacy
- Has an email on record
Who cannot join
- Explicitly opted out of receiving emails from the health system
- Only has eligible current prescriptions for fewer than 28 days
- Only has prescriptions that cannot be sent via mail-order pharmacy (e.g., antidepressants, specialty-tier drugs)
- Is a Medicare member in the coverage gap
- Shares an email address with another selected participant (who was randomly chosen for inclusion among all those sharing the same email address)
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Evaluation of an Email Intervention Promoting Enrollment in Mail-order Pharmacy
In this evaluation, four versions of emails will be sent to eligible health plan members who are not currently enrolled in the health system's mail-order pharmacy. A control group will not receive any communication. The researchers hypothesize that the use of content informed by behavioral nudge theory in the emails should lead to increased enrollment in the health system's mail-order pharmacy.
Read the detailed description
The utilization of a mail-order pharmacy can increase adherence to medications. The health system's mail-order pharmacy (from here, simply referred to as mail-order pharmacy) can also provide reduced costs for medications. Ongoing outreach efforts involve sending emails and other communications encouraging enrollment in Geisinger's mail-order pharmacy to eligible members of the system's health plan (i.e., those who take maintenance medications). The study will compare a standard promotional email from these outreach efforts, as well as three new emails with content informed by behavioral science research, against a no-contact control arm and each other.
- Conditions
- Health Care Utilization
- Being tested
- Fear Appeals, Message about Future Healthcare Costs, Endorsement from a Doctor, Comparison Table, Highlighting Cost Savings and Convenience
- Keywords
- Pharmacy, Postal Service, Electronic Mail, Communication, Economics, Behavioral, Psychology, Loss Frames, Fear Appeals
- Medical subject headings
- Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Communication, Behavior
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Fear AppealsBehavioural
Email
Message about Future Healthcare CostsBehavioural
Email
Endorsement from a DoctorBehavioural
Email
Comparison TableBehavioural
Email
Highlighting Cost Savings and ConvenienceBehavioural
Email
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Email | Active comparator | The "standard of care" email is the same as one used in prior outreach efforts at the health system, emphasizing reduced cost for medications and convenience. Receives: Behavioral: Highlighting Cost Savings and Convenience |
| Email with Healthcare Cost Savings | Experimental | The email emphasizes future reductions in healthcare costs due to increased adherence with mail-order pharmacy, in addition to mentioning reduced prices for medications. It also uses fear appeals by stating the risk of hospital stays and how mail-order pharmacy could be an easily-achievable way to avoid this negative consequence. Receives: Behavioral: Fear Appeals; Behavioral: Message about Future Healthcare Costs; Behavioral: Highlighting Cost Savings and Convenience |
| Email with Endorsement | Experimental | The email is a letter from a doctor at the health system's health plan--who may been seen as a trusted source of information--encouraging the benefits of using a mail-order pharmacy. Receives: Behavioral: Endorsement from a Doctor; Behavioral: Highlighting Cost Savings and Convenience |
| Email with Comparison Table | Experimental | The email includes a table comparing the benefits and drawbacks of mail-order and chain pharmacies, which appeals to their sense of agency and allows them to make the choice that best suits them. Receives: Behavioral: Comparison Table; Behavioral: Highlighting Cost Savings and Convenience |
| No Contact | No intervention | Members do not receive an email. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Mail-order Pharmacy Enrollment
Binary variable indicating if there was an enrollment in the health system's mail order pharmacy
Measured: 1 week from the intervention
Secondary outcomes (3)
Email Opens
Binary variable indicating if the email was opened
Measured: 1 week from the intervention
Email Link Click
Binary variable indicating if the link to the mail-order pharmacy website was clicked
Measured: 1 week from the intervention
Email Unsubscribes
Binary variable indicating if the recipient requested to unsubscribe from receiving emails from the health system
Measured: 1 week from the intervention
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted14 Oct 2020
- Study start13 Oct 2020
- Primary completion20 Oct 2020
- Study completion20 Oct 2020
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Health Care UtilizationStudies 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
- Factorial
- Model description
- 1 x 5 design
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Care provider
- Enrolment
- 5,266 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Geisinger Clinic
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Amir Goren, Geisinger Clinic
- Investigators
- Amir Goren, PhD, Principal investigator, Geisinger Clinic
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04587063
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2020-0482
- Status last verified
- Oct 2020
- First submitted
- 6 Oct 2020
- Last updated
- 27 Oct 2020
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Data with no personally identifiable information will be made available to other researchers on the Open Science Framework for transparency. This will include the essential data and code needed to replicate the analysis that yielded reported findings. The PI did not examine or analyze any data from this study prior to this registration.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 27 Oct 2020. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Evaluation of an Email Intervention Promoting Enrollment in Mail-order Pharmacy
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04587063
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2020-0482
- Conditions
- Health Care Utilization
- Keywords
- Pharmacy, Postal Service, Electronic Mail, Communication, Economics, Behavioral, Psychology, Loss Frames, Fear Appeals
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 5,266 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Geisinger ClinicUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 13 Oct 2020 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 20 Oct 2020 (actual)
- Study completion
- 20 Oct 2020 (actual)
- First posted
- 14 Oct 2020 (actual)
- 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.
In this evaluation, four versions of emails will be sent to eligible health plan members who are not currently enrolled in the health system's mail-order pharmacy. A control group will not receive any communication. The researchers hypothesize that the use of content informed by behavioral nudge theory in the emails should lead to increased enrollment in the health system's mail-order pharmacy.
Detailed description
The utilization of a mail-order pharmacy can increase adherence to medications. The health system's mail-order pharmacy (from here, simply referred to as mail-order pharmacy) can also provide reduced costs for medications. Ongoing outreach efforts involve sending emails and other communications encouraging enrollment in Geisinger's mail-order pharmacy to eligible members of the system's health plan (i.e., those who take maintenance medications). The study will compare a standard promotional email from these outreach efforts, as well as three new emails with content informed by behavioral science research, against a no-contact control arm and each other.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Factorial
- Masking
- Double blind (participant, care provider)
- Number of arms
- 5
- Model description
- 1 x 5 design
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Email | Active comparator | Behavioral: Highlighting Cost Savings and ConvenienceThe "standard of care" email is the same as one used in prior outreach efforts at the health system, emphasizing reduced cost for medications and convenience. |
| Email with Healthcare Cost Savings | Experimental | Behavioral: Fear Appeals, Behavioral: Message about Future Healthcare Costs, Behavioral: Highlighting Cost Savings and ConvenienceThe email emphasizes future reductions in healthcare costs due to increased adherence with mail-order pharmacy, in addition to mentioning reduced prices for medications. It also uses fear appeals by stating the risk of hospital stays and how mail-order pharmacy could be an easily-achievable way to avoid this negative consequence. |
| Email with Endorsement | Experimental | Behavioral: Endorsement from a Doctor, Behavioral: Highlighting Cost Savings and ConvenienceThe email is a letter from a doctor at the health system's health plan--who may been seen as a trusted source of information--encouraging the benefits of using a mail-order pharmacy. |
| Email with Comparison Table | Experimental | Behavioral: Comparison Table, Behavioral: Highlighting Cost Savings and ConvenienceThe email includes a table comparing the benefits and drawbacks of mail-order and chain pharmacies, which appeals to their sense of agency and allows them to make the choice that best suits them. |
| No Contact | No intervention | –Members do not receive an email. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- An active member of the health plan (Medicare, Commercial, or Exchange)
- Currently prescribed maintenance medications
- Not currently subscribed to the health system's mail-order pharmacy
- Has an email on record
Key exclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Explicitly opted out of receiving emails from the health system
- Only has eligible current prescriptions for fewer than 28 days
- Only has prescriptions that cannot be sent via mail-order pharmacy (e.g., antidepressants, specialty-tier drugs)
- Is a Medicare member in the coverage gap
- Shares an email address with another selected participant (who was randomly chosen for inclusion among all those sharing the same email address)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fear AppealsEmail | Behavioural | Email with Healthcare Cost Savings |
| Message about Future Healthcare CostsEmail | Behavioural | Email with Healthcare Cost Savings |
| Endorsement from a DoctorEmail | Behavioural | Email with Endorsement |
| Comparison TableEmail | Behavioural | Email with Comparison Table |
| Highlighting Cost Savings and ConvenienceEmail | Behavioural | Email with Comparison Table, Email with Endorsement, Email with Healthcare Cost Savings, Standard Email |
Primary outcome
Mail-order Pharmacy Enrollment
Time frame: 1 week from the intervention
Binary variable indicating if there was an enrollment in the health system's mail order pharmacy
3 secondary outcomes
Email Opens
Time frame: 1 week from the intervention
Email Link Click
Time frame: 1 week from the intervention
Email Unsubscribes
Time frame: 1 week from the intervention
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 27 Oct 2020.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Data with no personally identifiable information will be made available to other researchers on the Open Science Framework for transparency. This will include the essential data and code needed to replicate the analysis that yielded reported findings. The PI did not examine or analyze any data from this study prior to this registration.
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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.
Amir Goren, PhD principal investigator
Geisinger Clinic
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Fear Appeals, Message about Future Healthcare Costs and Endorsement from a Doctor in people with Health Care Utilization, run by Geisinger Clinic 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 4 inclusion and 5 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 27 Oct 2020. 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?
Mail-order Pharmacy Enrollment (time frame: 1 week from the intervention). 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 27 Oct 2020.