Efficacy of Communication Modalities for Promoting Flu Shots

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

43225 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-09-06

Study Completion Date

2022-10-04

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to test which modalities (mailed letter, short message service \[SMS\] text, or patient portal messages) are most effective for encouraging flu shots in high-risk patients.

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Detailed Description

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The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends a flu vaccination to everyone aged 6+ months, with rare exception; almost anyone can benefit from the vaccine, which can reduce illnesses, missed work, hospitalizations, and death. Flu shots are particularly important for patients at high risk of experiencing severe outcomes.

During the 2020-21 and 2021-22 flu seasons, the study team sent messages to Geisinger patients in the top 10% of risk for flu and complications according to an artificial intelligence algorithm. Messages that told patients they were at high risk significantly increased their likelihood of getting vaccinated.

The present study will extend previous work by testing which modality or modalities are most effective at boosting flu shot rates in patients at high risk. In previous campaigns, patients received messages via all communication modalities patients were eligible for (mailed letter, SMS text, and/or patient portal message). In this study, patients will be randomized to receive high-risk messages in one or more modalities.

Conditions

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Influenza Vaccination Health Promotion Health Behavior Risk Reduction

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Caregivers

Providers who prescribe vaccination and diagnose conditions will not be randomized to study arms or informed of patient assignment. Although patients will not be explicitly informed which arm they have been randomized to, they will be aware of the messages they receive.

Study Groups

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Control

No additional pro-vaccination intervention - some patients are currently targeted for flu vaccination messages due to a non-machine learning-based assessment that they are at high risk for complications, but are not told that they are at high risk or that they have been targeted

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Letter only

This group will receive a letter telling them they are at high risk for flu and complications

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Letter

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Mailed letter about flu vaccination

Patient portal only

This group will receive a patient portal message telling them they are at high risk for flu and complications

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Patient portal

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient portal message about flu vaccination

SMS only

This group will receive an SMS telling them they are at high risk for flu and complications

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

SMS

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

SMS about flu vaccination

Patient portal + SMS

This group will receive a patient portal message and an SMS telling them they are at high risk for flu and complications

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Patient portal

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient portal message about flu vaccination

SMS

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

SMS about flu vaccination

Letter + Patient portal + SMS

This group will receive a letter, a patient portal message, and an SMS telling them they are at high risk for flu and complications

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Letter

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Mailed letter about flu vaccination

Patient portal

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient portal message about flu vaccination

SMS

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

SMS about flu vaccination

Interventions

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Letter

Mailed letter about flu vaccination

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient portal

Patient portal message about flu vaccination

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

SMS

SMS about flu vaccination

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Included on a list of active Geisinger patients (all patients on this list attended at least one primary care appointment at Geisinger between 10/1/2008 and 4/13/2022, and either had a Geisinger primary care provider assigned as of April 2022, or were in the Electronic Health Record \[EHR\] since at least September 2021 and had at least one encounter in 2020-2022)
* Aged 18 or older
* In the top 10% of risk for flu and flu complications, according to Medial's flu complications machine learning algorithm (which operates on coded EHR data)
* Has a Geisinger PCP assigned as of August 2022
* Has had an encounter in the last 2 years as of August 2022

Exclusion Criteria

\- Cannot be contacted via any of the communication modalities (e.g., letter, patient portal, SMS) being used in the study, either due to insufficient/missing contact information in the EHR or because they opted out of all modalities

Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No