Comparing the Effectiveness of Different Appointment Reminder Methods

NCT06767423 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IRB # 855257
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 32,925
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Penn Medicine is continually trying to optimize operations and decrease number of patients who do not show up for their appointments. This has included new changes to text message reminders, implemented as usual care. At a baseline, less than 75% of scheduled outpatient appointments are actually completed. This results in longer wait times and decreased access for patients and operational inefficiencies. The goal of the project is to test whether supplementing standard text message appointment reminders with targeted outreach using an automated phone call to patients with increased risk of not showing up for their appointment (\>15% per Epic's Risk of Patient No-Show Model) reduces no show rate (the study's primary outcome) and increases patient appointment completion rate (% of appointments that were completed during scheduled appointment time, a secondary outcome). Participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the standard text message or standard text message plus the automated caller. Eligible patients have already consented to receiving text message reminders from Penn Medicine and must have an in-person appointment scheduled during the study period. The Access Optimization Group at Penn will be monitoring the randomization and outcomes reporting of whether a patient confirmed, cancelled, or no showed at the scheduled appointment. All eligible outpatient appointments over a two week period will be included in this operational evaluation. The Access Optimization Group will then make a decision on which approach to implement as usual care based on the results of this operational evaluation.

Conditions

Appointment Reminders

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• No Show Rate

  Proportion of initially scheduled appointments in which the patient did not show.

  Through study completion, on average of 3 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Appointment Completion Rate

  Through study completion, on average of 3 weeks

• Appointment Cancelation Rate

  Through study completion, on average of 3 weeks

• Appointment Refill Rate

  Through study completion, on average of 3 weeks

• Refilled Appointment Completion Ration

  Through study completion, on average of 3 weeks

• Net Appointment Completion Rate

  Through study completion, on average of 3 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Text Message (Usual Care)

NO INTERVENTION

Standard text message appointment reminders to English and Spanish-speaking patients. Text reminders will go out 3-weeks, 3 days, and 24 hours before the appointment.

Text Message + Automated Caller (Intervention)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Standard text message appointment reminders to English and Spanish-speaking patients. Text reminders will go out 3-weeks, 3 days, and 24 hours before the appointment. If patient has not confirmed their appointment after the 3-week and 3-day reminders, they'll receive an automated caller.

Behavioral: Text Message + Automated Caller (Intervention)

Interventions

Text Message + Automated Caller (Intervention) BEHAVIORAL

Standard text message appointment reminders to English and Spanish-speaking patients. Text reminders will go out 3-weeks, 3 days, and 24 hours before the appointment. If patient has not confirmed their appointment after the 3-week and 3-day reminders they will receive an automated caller.

Text Message + Automated Caller (Intervention)

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• in-person appointments
• English or Spanish speakers
• years old or older

Sponsors & Collaborators

• M. Kit Delgado, MD: lead

Study Sites (1)

Penn Medicine

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Tarabichi Y, Higginbotham J, Riley N, Kaelber DC, Watts B. Reducing Disparities in No Show Rates Using Predictive Model-Driven Live Appointment Reminders for At-Risk Patients: a Randomized Controlled Quality Improvement Initiative. J Gen Intern Med. 2023 Oct;38(13):2921-2927. doi: 10.1007/s11606-023-08209-0. Epub 2023 May 1.

  PMID: 37126125 BACKGROUND

Related Links

• Helping Patients Make It to Their Appointments Using Predictive Analytics and Personalized Phone Calls

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Methods

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Investigative Techniques

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 13, 2024
• First Posted: January 9, 2025
• Study Start: November 5, 2024
• Primary Completion: December 5, 2024
• Study Completion: February 5, 2025
• Last Updated: April 4, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Locations

US (1)