Enhanced Email Reminders for Health Maintenance

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles

Disqualifiers: Under 18, Deceased, Hospice, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: Unknown

81000 Participants Needed

Trial Summary

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications. It seems unlikely that you would need to stop, as the study focuses on email notifications and patient engagement rather than medication use.

What data supports the effectiveness of the treatment Behaviorally informed tickler email in the clinical trial Enhanced Email Reminders for Health Maintenance?

Research shows that health reminders, including emails, can help people manage their health better by motivating them to take action, as seen in studies with patients managing chronic illnesses like asthma and diabetes. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Is it safe to use enhanced email reminders for health maintenance?

There is no specific safety data available for enhanced email reminders for health maintenance, but similar technologies like active personal health records have been used without reported safety concerns. ^{6 7 8 9 10}

How does the treatment 'Enhanced Email Reminders for Health Maintenance' differ from other treatments for this condition?

This treatment is unique because it uses enhanced email reminders to help patients manage their health by providing personalized and timely prompts to complete health tasks. Unlike traditional treatments, it focuses on improving patient motivation and collaboration with healthcare providers through digital communication. ^{1 2 3 11 12}

What is the purpose of this trial?

This is a prospective clinical trial evaluating how a behaviorally-informed outreach email notification impacts patient engagement with primary care. This trial is being implemented in conjunction with UCLA Health's larger quality improvement initiative (the My Action Plan Quality Improvement Initiative) in order to improve primary care preventive measure completion rates. The main question it aims to answer is if sending an enhanced email notification (i.e., enhanced tickler email) to identified UCLA Health primary care patients increases their engagement with primary care. Participants will be assigned to either a control (standard tickler email) or treatment (enhanced tickler email) condition, based on whether their birth date ends in an odd or even number. Researchers will compare control and treatment groups to see if and how they differ in pre-defined outcome measures.

Eligibility Criteria

This trial is for adult patients at UCLA Health's primary care with overdue health maintenance measures and active MyChart status. It excludes those under 18, deceased, in hospice, who've opted out of electronic communication or have scheduled/completed all tests before the email notification.

Inclusion Criteria

This criterion means that the person is a patient at UCLA Health's Department of Medicine Primary Care.

You have not completed at least one important health check-up that is part of the My Action Plan program.

You are currently using MyChart.

Exclusion Criteria

I have not completed all screenings/tests before the scheduled email notification and do not use a proxy for my emails.

I have chosen not to receive electronic communications.

I am under 18 years old.

Timeline

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Intervention

Participants receive either a standard or enhanced tickler email to encourage engagement with primary care

18 months

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for engagement with the MyChart patient portal and completion of health maintenance measures

6 months

Treatment Details

Interventions

• Behaviorally informed tickler email

Trial Overview The study examines if a behaviorally-informed 'enhanced tickler email' increases patient engagement with primary care compared to a standard email. Participants are split into two groups based on their birth date's odd or even number to receive different types of emails.

Participant Groups

Group I: Arm 2: Enhanced tickler email Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Eligible, assigned participants will receive a behaviorally informed email notification (i.e., "enhanced tickler"), coming from their PCP's office, informing patients that they are due for an important medical exam, and containing a direct link to the MAP Letter on their patient portal account.

Group II: Arm 1: Standard tickler email Active Control 1 Intervention

Eligible, assigned participants will receive the current standard email notification (i.e., "control tickler") from UCLA Health, informing patients that they have received a new message in their MyChart patient portal account, and containing links to their portal account.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of California, Los Angeles

Lead Sponsor

Trials

1,594

Recruited

10,430,000+

Findings from Research

Health reminders are crucial for helping patients manage chronic illnesses, but many face challenges like lack of motivation and ability to act on these reminders, leading to negative health outcomes.

Through participatory design sessions with mothers of children with asthma and older adults with type 2 diabetes, four types of persuasive health reminders were identified: introspective, socially supportive, adaptive, and symbolic, highlighting the need for features that enhance understanding and collaboration in health management.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Persuasive Reminders for Health Self-Management. O'Leary, K., Liu, L., McClure, JB., et al.[2018]

Patients using the active Personal Health Record (PHR) called HealthTrak reported improved communication with their healthcare providers, which can enhance the overall quality of care.

The active PHR encouraged patients to take a more proactive role in managing their health, fostering a partnership with providers and potentially leading to better health outcomes, especially for those at risk for cardiovascular disease.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Using Health Information Technology to Foster Engagement: Patients' Experiences with an Active Patient Health Record. Rief, JJ., Hamm, ME., Zickmund, SL., et al.[2023]

References

1. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Changing clinical practice through patient specific reminders available at the time of the clinical encounter: systematic review and meta-analysis. [2021]

2. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Potential Limitations of E-mail and Text Messaging in Improving Adherence in Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension. [2022]

3. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Persuasive Reminders for Health Self-Management. [2018]

4. England pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Patient preferences and access to text messaging for health care reminders in a safety-net setting. [2022]

5. Netherlands pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Adherence to computerized clinical reminders in a large healthcare delivery network. [2019]

6. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Designing Feedback Visualizations for Anti-Hypertensive Medication Adherence for Older Adults. [2022]

7. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Effect of State Immunization Information System Based Reminder/Recall for Influenza Vaccinations: A Randomized Trial of Autodialer, Text, and Mailed Messages. [2021]

8. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Non-interruptive drug-lab alerts in ambulatory care. [2018]

9. England pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Using Health Information Technology to Foster Engagement: Patients' Experiences with an Active Patient Health Record. [2023]

10. Ireland pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Prescribers' interactions with medication alerts at the point of prescribing: A multi-method, in situ investigation of the human-computer interaction. [2022]

11. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Collaborative Health Reminders and Notifications: Insights from Prototypes. [2020]

12. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Improving patient compliance with best practices guidelines: a web based automated and personalized reminders system. [2018]