Informing Low-acuity Emergency Department Patients of Non-emergent Resources

NCT06350266 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2024-0183
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 6,242
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this campaign is to reduce unnecessary visits to a Geisinger emergency department (ED)/encourage patients with high acuity visits to follow up with an appropriate Geisinger provider. In this campaign, patients will be assigned to receive or not receive outreach following ED discharge that is aligned with the goal. Outreach will occur via a text message, as well as information added to the patient's after visit summary, and will includecalls to action to see their Geisinger CMSL PCP either in person or virtually. The study will assess whether ED use differs across patients in different outreach conditions. It will also examine whether patients follow through on the message-specific calls to action in the messages differently across conditions.

Conditions

Emergency Service, Hospital

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Return to Geisinger ED

  ED visit (yes/no)

  within 120 days following day of discharge

Other Outcomes (7)

• PCP appointment made

  within 60 days following day of discharge

• PCP visit

  within 60 days following day of discharge

• Telehealth appointment made

  within 60 days following day of discharge

Study Arms (2)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

This arm will receive no intervention outside of usual care.

Other Healthcare Resources

EXPERIMENTAL

This arm will receive text messages suggesting alternatives to seeking care at a Geisinger emergency department such as seeing their Geisinger CMSL primary care provider in person or virtually (telehealth). Text suggesting these alternatives may also be included in a modified discharge paperwork packet.

Behavioral: Information about healthcare resources

Interventions

Information about healthcare resources BEHAVIORAL

Text messages will be sent following discharge from the emergency department; text may also be modified in the (online and/or printed) discharge summary packet.

Also known as: Text messages, Discharge summary text, Information

Other Healthcare Resources

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• \>= 18 years of age
• Geisinger ED visit rated as low acuity (L4 or L5)
• Discharged from Geisinger ED in past 24 hours

You may not qualify if:

• Cannot be contacted via the communication modality being used in the study (i.e., SMS), due to insufficient/missing contact information in the EHR or because the patient opted out
• Admitted to hospital
• Already included in intervention in past 365 days

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Geisinger Clinic: lead

Study Sites (1)

Geisinger Health System

Danville, Pennsylvania, 17822, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Emergencies

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Amir Goren, PhD

  Geisinger Clinic

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Patients will be aware of their own messages but not of messages sent to other patients or in other arms.
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Program Director, Behavioral Insights Team

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 1, 2024
• First Posted: April 5, 2024
• Study Start: April 25, 2024
• Primary Completion: December 27, 2024
• Study Completion: December 27, 2024
• Last Updated: January 9, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)