Rheumatic DiseasesPOET-RheumNCT07022756
Personalized Outreach for Equitable Treatment in Rheumatology
A study testing Honoraria and Outreach in people with Rheumatic Diseases and Inflammatory Arthritis, run by University of British Columbia at 1 site in Canada.
Trial summary
The primary goal of this study is to determine whether providing patient honoraria and/or outreach services can improve the attendance rate of appointments at an inner city rheumatology clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Rheumatic Diseases, Inflammatory Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
- What is being tested?
- Honoraria and Outreach
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 20 participants
- Where
- 1 siteCanada
- Study dates
- 2 Jul 2025to Jun 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
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
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Have a diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis secondary to an autoimmune rheumatic disease
- Be attached to one of the Vancouver Coastal Health Community Health Centres for primary care
- Be willing to attend in-person appointments at Pender Community Health Centre
- Be at least 18 years of age and capable of consenting to participation
- Be able to receive medical care in English.
Who cannot join
- Have cognitive impairment or an untreated psychiatric condition that would severely impair ability to engage with outreach or treatment
- Have no reasonably reliable method of contact (phone, email, social media, etc.)
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Canada1 site
Pender Community Health Centre
Vancouver, British Columbia
Chu Ming (Alec) Yu, MD, 778-807-3323, alec.yu@vch.ca
About this study
Official title: Personalized Outreach for Equitable Treatment in Rheumatology: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Patient Outreach and Honoraria in an Inner City Rheumatology Clinic
The primary goal of this study is to determine whether providing patient honoraria and/or outreach services can improve the attendance rate of appointments at an inner city rheumatology clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The main question it aims to answer are:
Read more
- Does providing a financial honorarium ($20 for each follow-up appointment with completed bloodwork) improve attendance rate at an inner city rheumatology clinic?
- Does providing a personalized outreach service for rheumatic diseases improve attendance rate at an inner city rheumatology clinic?
The researchers will compare providing patient honoraria to providing both honoraria and outreach services, and compare each of these to the regular appointment schedule without honoraria or outreach.
Participants will:
- Undergo randomization to receive honoraria or honoraria and outreach services together
- Complete surveys about their health and understanding of their rheumatic disease at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month intervals
- Visit the clinic every month for check-ups and monitoring bloodwork if they are started on immunosuppressants for their condition
Read the detailed description
Our study aims to enhance the existing twice-monthly rheumatology clinic at the Pender Community Health Centre with a rheumatology-specific outreach service for patients with inflammatory arthritis. This service will be provided by a rheumatology subspecialty trainee under the supervision of two attending rheumatologists. This will consist of biweekly phone calls, text messages, or home visits as per the patient's preference, at times flexible to patient needs. This will be in addition to monthly in-person assessment and bloodwork monitoring with adjustment as clinically indicated by their treating rheumatologist. Outreach services will include management of medications and side effects, proactive screening for infections, coordination of rheumatologic and general healthcare with their Primary Care Provider, social service navigation, and reminders for appointments and lab monitoring. All participants will be provided with a $20 honorarium for each in-person assessment they attend as part of the study.
The investigators will aim to enroll 20 participants between July 2025 and October 2025. Participants will be randomized to either honorarium with outreach or honorarium alone arms in a 1:1 fashion, stratified by housing status (unhoused and emergency sheltered in one strata, provisionally accommodated and stably housed in the second strata).
All enrolled participants will receive a $20 honorarium for each in-person assessment with completed monitoring bloodwork as requested by the treating rheumatologist. The program will last 6 months for each patient from time of enrolment, or until a patient chooses to leave the program, whichever is sooner. At baseline, participants will complete two surveys: one on their general health status, and one specific to their rheumatic disease. At the 3-month and 6-month visits, these surveys will be repeated, and a semi-structured interview will be completed to obtain feedback on the pilot program.
The outcomes of this study will inform how rheumatologists can better care for those who live with inflammatory arthritis and are also marginalized by extreme poverty and/or housing instability. The investigators plan on disseminating and discussing results with our participants, community members, inner city physicians, and rheumatologists. If there are specific positive themes or outcomes from the study, the investigators will advocate for additional resources to permit long-term implementation and further study to confirm results, make further improvements to our program, and improve generalizability.
- Conditions
- Rheumatic Diseases, Inflammatory Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), Connective Tissue Disease
- Being tested
- Honoraria, Outreach
- Keywords
- Rheumatology, Inflammatory Arthritis, Inner City Health
- Medical subject headings
- Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis, Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Arthritis, Psoriatic, Connective Tissue Diseases
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
HonorariaBehavioural
A $20 honorarium for each appointment attended with completed bloodwork if requested.
OutreachBehavioural
A personalized outreach service specific for rheumatic disease.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Honoraria Only | Active comparator | Participants in this arm of the study will only receive honoraria and not outreach Receives: Behavioral: Honoraria |
| Honoraria and Outreach | Experimental | Participants in this arm of the study will receive both honoraria and outreach services Receives: Behavioral: Honoraria; Behavioral: Outreach |
| Historical Control | No intervention | The attendance rate to follow-up appointments among all patients with inflammatory arthritis due to a rheumatic disease at the Pender Rheumatology Clinic from Jan 2023 to Jun 2025. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Attendance at in-person follow-up appointments
Adherence to in-person follow-up measured by the ratio of appointments attended to appointments scheduled.
Measured: Cumulative over 6 months
Secondary outcomes (4)
Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI)
The change in Clinical Disease Activity Index from baseline to 3-months and 6-months. The Clinical Disease Activity Index is a validated disease outcome measure in Inflammatory Arthritis ranging from 0 to 76. A higher score means a worse outcome.
Measured: 3-month and 6-month intervals.
Patient Qualitative Feedback
Patient qualitative feedback on the program via semi-structured interview.
Measured: 3-month and 6-month intervals.
Patient Reported Understanding of Disease and Medications
Patient Reported Understanding of Disease and Medications, as measured by likert scale at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. The likert scale will range from 1 to 10, with higher scores indicating better understanding.
Measured: 3-month and 6-month intervals.
Patient reported pain related to arthritis
Patient reported pain related to arthritis on a visual analogue scale. The visual analogue scale is a validated measure of pain in arthritis, where participants are asked to indicate their severity of pain within the previous week on a 0 to 100mm score. A score of 0 indicates "no pain", and a score of 100 indicates "worst possible pain".
Measured: 3-month and 6-month intervals
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted15 Jun 2025
- Study start2 Jul 2025 (estimated)
- Primary completionApr 2026 (estimated)
- Study completionJun 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Rheumatic DiseasesStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of British ColumbiaThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- 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
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 20 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of British Columbia
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Mary Pack Arthritis Center
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Alec Yu, University of British Columbia
- Investigators
- Brent R Ohata, MD, Principal investigator, University of British Columbia
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07022756
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- H24-03984
- Acronym
- POET-Rheum
- Status last verified
- Jul 2025
- First submitted
- 7 Jun 2025
- Last updated
- 4 Jul 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: We are working with a uniquely vulnerable population who are marginalized by extreme poverty, and feel that the risks of identification by sharing individual patient data outweigh the academic benefits in this study.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 4 Jul 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Personalized Outreach for Equitable Treatment in Rheumatology: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Patient Outreach and Honoraria in an Inner City Rheumatology Clinic
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07022756
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- POET-Rheum / H24-03984
- Conditions
- Rheumatic Diseases, Inflammatory Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), Connective Tissue Disease
- Keywords
- Rheumatology, Inflammatory Arthritis, Inner City Health
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 20 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of British ColumbiaUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Mary Pack Arthritis Center
- Study start
- 2 Jul 2025 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- Apr 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Jun 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 15 Jun 2025 (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.
The primary goal of this study is to determine whether providing patient honoraria and/or outreach services can improve the attendance rate of appointments at an inner city rheumatology clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The main question it aims to answer are:
- Does providing a financial honorarium ($20 for each follow-up appointment with completed bloodwork) improve attendance rate at an inner city rheumatology clinic?
- Does providing a personalized outreach service for rheumatic diseases improve attendance rate at an inner city rheumatology clinic?
The researchers will compare providing patient honoraria to providing both honoraria and outreach services, and compare each of these to the regular appointment schedule without honoraria or outreach.
Participants will:
- Undergo randomization to receive honoraria or honoraria and outreach services together
- Complete surveys about their health and understanding of their rheumatic disease at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month intervals
- Visit the clinic every month for check-ups and monitoring bloodwork if they are started on immunosuppressants for their condition
Detailed description
Our study aims to enhance the existing twice-monthly rheumatology clinic at the Pender Community Health Centre with a rheumatology-specific outreach service for patients with inflammatory arthritis. This service will be provided by a rheumatology subspecialty trainee under the supervision of two attending rheumatologists. This will consist of biweekly phone calls, text messages, or home visits as per the patient's preference, at times flexible to patient needs. This will be in addition to monthly in-person assessment and bloodwork monitoring with adjustment as clinically indicated by their treating rheumatologist. Outreach services will include management of medications and side effects, proactive screening for infections, coordination of rheumatologic and general healthcare with their Primary Care Provider, social service navigation, and reminders for appointments and lab monitoring. All participants will be provided with a $20 honorarium for each in-person assessment they attend as part of the study.
The investigators will aim to enroll 20 participants between July 2025 and October 2025. Participants will be randomized to either honorarium with outreach or honorarium alone arms in a 1:1 fashion, stratified by housing status (unhoused and emergency sheltered in one strata, provisionally accommodated and stably housed in the second strata).
All enrolled participants will receive a $20 honorarium for each in-person assessment with completed monitoring bloodwork as requested by the treating rheumatologist. The program will last 6 months for each patient from time of enrolment, or until a patient chooses to leave the program, whichever is sooner. At baseline, participants will complete two surveys: one on their general health status, and one specific to their rheumatic disease. At the 3-month and 6-month visits, these surveys will be repeated, and a semi-structured interview will be completed to obtain feedback on the pilot program.
The outcomes of this study will inform how rheumatologists can better care for those who live with inflammatory arthritis and are also marginalized by extreme poverty and/or housing instability. The investigators plan on disseminating and discussing results with our participants, community members, inner city physicians, and rheumatologists. If there are specific positive themes or outcomes from the study, the investigators will advocate for additional resources to permit long-term implementation and further study to confirm results, make further improvements to our program, and improve generalizability.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 3
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Honoraria Only | Active comparator | Behavioral: HonorariaParticipants in this arm of the study will only receive honoraria and not outreach |
| Honoraria and Outreach | Experimental | Behavioral: Honoraria, Behavioral: OutreachParticipants in this arm of the study will receive both honoraria and outreach services |
| Historical Control | No intervention | –The attendance rate to follow-up appointments among all patients with inflammatory arthritis due to a rheumatic disease at the Pender Rheumatology Clinic from Jan 2023 to Jun 2025. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Have a diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis secondary to an autoimmune rheumatic disease
- Be attached to one of the Vancouver Coastal Health Community Health Centres for primary care
- Be willing to attend in-person appointments at Pender Community Health Centre
- Be at least 18 years of age and capable of consenting to participation
- Be able to receive medical care in English.
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Have cognitive impairment or an untreated psychiatric condition that would severely impair ability to engage with outreach or treatment
- Have no reasonably reliable method of contact (phone, email, social media, etc.)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HonorariaA $20 honorarium for each appointment attended with completed bloodwork if requested. | Behavioural | Honoraria Only, Honoraria and Outreach |
| OutreachA personalized outreach service specific for rheumatic disease. | Behavioural | Honoraria and Outreach |
Primary outcome
Attendance at in-person follow-up appointments
Time frame: Cumulative over 6 months
Adherence to in-person follow-up measured by the ratio of appointments attended to appointments scheduled.
4 secondary outcomes
Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI)
Time frame: 3-month and 6-month intervals.
Patient Qualitative Feedback
Time frame: 3-month and 6-month intervals.
Patient Reported Understanding of Disease and Medications
Time frame: 3-month and 6-month intervals.
Patient reported pain related to arthritis
Time frame: 3-month and 6-month intervals
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 4 Jul 2025.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. We are working with a uniquely vulnerable population who are marginalized by extreme poverty, and feel that the risks of identification by sharing individual patient data outweigh the academic benefits in this study.
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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.
Brent R Ohata, MD principal investigator
University of British Columbia
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Honoraria and Outreach in people with Rheumatic Diseases and Inflammatory Arthritis, run by University of British Columbia at 1 site in Canada.
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 5 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: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Jul 2025. 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 Canada. 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?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Chu Ming (Alec) Yu, MD (778-807-3323, alec.yu@vch.ca), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Attendance at in-person follow-up appointments (time frame: Cumulative over 6 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 4 Jul 2025.