Targeted Letters to Reduce Avoidable Emergency Department Attendances

NCT02334189 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: 2014055
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 25,000
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The study aims to test whether it is possible to reduce pressure on Emergency Departments by sending a personal feedback letter to people who have recently attended an Emergency Department and whose health issues could likely have been dealt with elsewhere. These attendances clearly have many causes. However, it is likely that some attendances are due to behavioural factors - in other words, the various ways in which users interact with services. This study focuses on one particular behavioural factor: lack of feedback to users making avoidable visits. The study will take place in collaboration with an NHS hospital trust. Each week during the trial, the hospital trust will identify those Emergency Department attendances in the last seven days which, according to clinical judgement, could have been dealt with elsewhere. Patients will then be randomly selected to receive a letter containing information on alternative healthcare options for non-emergency health concerns. Patient records will be analysed to determine whether the patients who received the letter are less likely to make an avoidable repeat visit to the Emergency Department in the future, compared with patients who received no letter.

Conditions

Avoidable Emergency Department Attendances

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Number of avoidable Emergency Department re-attendances (Attendances are classified as avoidable using the 'No Investigation No Significant Treatment' code.)

  Attendances are classified as avoidable using the 'No Investigation No Significant Treatment' code.

  Measured at 4 months after previous attendance

Study Arms (2)

Letter

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients receive a letter containing information on alternative healthcare options for non-emergency health concerns.

Behavioral: Letter

No letter

NO INTERVENTION

Patients receive no letter (this is the usual care).

Interventions

Letter BEHAVIORAL

Patients receive an information letter following an avoidable visit to the Emergency Department.

Letter

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Adults who attended a participating Emergency Department during the trial period and whose attendance was codes as 'No Investigation No Significant Treatment'

You may not qualify if:

• Children under the age of 18
• All departments and hospitals other than participating Emergency Departments.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Behavioural Insights Team: lead

MeSH Terms

Interventions

College Fraternities and Sororities

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Organizations; Health Care Economics and Organizations

Study Officials

• Hannah Behrendt, MPhil, BA

  Behavioural Insights Team

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Hannah Behrendt, MPhil, BA

CONTACT

+447588482198; hannah.behrendt@behaviouralinsights.co.uk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 6, 2015
• First Posted: January 8, 2015
• Study Start: January 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: November 1, 2015
• Study Completion: November 1, 2015
• Last Updated: January 8, 2015

Record last verified: 2015-01