An interventional study of Timely and Transparency in Telehealth and Health Behavior, sponsored by Geisinger Clinic. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-06-11.
Sponsored by Geisinger Clinic · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research
The purpose of the current study is to test whether sending email communications in a timely manner - when patients have laboratory results available to view on the myGeisinger patient portal - increases enrollment in the portal.
Online patient portals are convenient tools that improve patient access to healthcare services while often reducing burden to both patients and providers. However, many patients have not enrolled in such portals, including Geisinger's patient portal, known as myGeisinger.
The purpose of the current study is to test whether sending myGeisinger enrollment information in a timely manner - when the benefits of enrolling are most readily available - increases enrollment. Specifically, messages will be timely in terms of lab test results having just been made available online, with the added benefit that patients can view their results prior to receiving them via mail. Unenrolled patients who recently had a laboratory procedure ordered and whose results are now ready for sharing will be informed via email that their lab results are available. At the same time, these patients will be reminded that these results can be viewed online through myGeisinger.
The primary outcome measure of interest, myGeisinger enrollment rates, will be compared between the emailed population and a control group that similarly has lab results available but will not be contacted. In addition, two different versions of the email communication will be tested. One will highlight that the patient will have to go through a sign-up process before viewing test results (in the service of transparency). The other will provide a presumed direct link to view those results, via a button that potentially serves as a pre-commitment step to undergo the registration process ("foot in the door" effect). Secondary analyses will assess differences in enrollment rates as well as unsubscribe rates between the email versions. Exploratory analyses will further examine differences in the rates at which patients opened and clicked on enrollment links within the two emails. Statistical analyses will employ generalized linear models with a binary distribution and log-link function.
Geisinger Clinic is the lead sponsor of 125 studies on the registry; 21 are open to participants now.
Of its 9 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 7 (78%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients do not receive an email
Patients are emailed about myGeisinger when they have a lab result ready to view. The email includes a "View My Lab Results" button, which encourages them to click as a pre-commitment step that then brings them to the myGeisinger sign-up page.
Behavioral: Timely · Behavioral: Foot-in-the-door
Patients are emailed about myGeisinger when they have a lab result ready to view. The email includes a "Get Started With myGeisinger" button that is transparent about the next step in the process, before the patient can view test results.
Behavioral: Timely · Behavioral: Transparency
Enrollment - Timely Email (Combined Email Arms) vs. no Intervention
Patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)
Time frame: 1 week post-intervention
Enrollment - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button
Patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)
Time frame: 1 week post-intervention
Email Opened - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button
Email was opened (yes / no)
Time frame: 1 week post-intervention
Link Clicked - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button
Link / button to start the enrollment process was clicked (yes / no)
Time frame: 1 week post-intervention
Unsubscribed - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button
Patient unsubscribed from these email communications (yes / no)
Time frame: 1 month post-intervention
Enrollment - Timely Email (Combined Email Arms) vs. no Intervention
Patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)
Time frame: 1 month post-intervention
| Milestone | Control | Timely Nudge - View Results | Timely Nudge - Get Started |
|---|---|---|---|
| Started | 1669 | 1672 | 1671 |
| Completed | 1669 | 1671 | 1669 |
| Not completed | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Withdrew: Lost to follow-up | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Milestone | Control | Timely Nudge - View Results | Timely Nudge - Get Started |
|---|---|---|---|
| Started | 0 | 1671 | 1669 |
| Valid email address | 0 | 1495 | 1441 |
| Completed | 0 | 1399 | 1351 |
| Not completed | 0 | 272 | 318 |
Patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)
| Participants | Control | Timely Nudge |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment - Timely Email (Combined Email Arms) vs. no Intervention | 65 | 361 |
Patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)
| Participants | Timely Nudge - View Results | Timely Nudge - Get Started |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button | 190 | 159 |
Email was opened (yes / no)
| Participants | Timely Nudge - View Results | Timely Nudge - Get Started |
|---|---|---|
| Email Opened - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button | 654 | 617 |
Link / button to start the enrollment process was clicked (yes / no)
| Participants | Timely Nudge - View Results | Timely Nudge - Get Started |
|---|---|---|
| Link Clicked - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button | 494 | 307 |
Patient unsubscribed from these email communications (yes / no)
| Participants | Timely Nudge - View Results | Timely Nudge - Get Started |
|---|---|---|
| Unsubscribed - Email Including a "Get Started" Button vs. a "View Results" Button | 2 | 2 |
Patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)
| Participants | Control | Timely Nudge |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment - Timely Email (Combined Email Arms) vs. no Intervention | 141 | 488 |
Collected over No adverse events were evaluated.. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.
| Group | Deaths | Serious | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control | — | — | — |
| Timely Nudge - View Results | — | — | — |
| Timely Nudge - Get Started | — | — | — |
Investigators did not have access to baseline demographic information for study participants.
| Age, Categorical(Participants) | Control | Timely Nudge - View Results | Timely Nudge - Get Started | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <=18 years | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Between 18 and 65 years | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| >=65 years | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Sex: Female, Male(Participants) | Control | Timely Nudge - View Results | Timely Nudge - Get Started | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Male | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Race and Ethnicity Not Collected(Participants) | Control | Timely Nudge - View Results | Timely Nudge - Get Started | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count of participants | — | — | — | 0 |
Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.
Plan to share: Yes — Data with no personally identifiable information will be made available to other researchers on the Open Science Framework for transparency. This will include the essential data and code needed to replicate the analysis that yielded reported findings.
Supporting information: Analytic code
This study is completed, as verified in May 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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