Improving Follow-Up Adherence in a Primary Eye Care Setting

November 26, 2016 updated by: Julia Haller, Wills Eye

Improving Follow-Up Adherence in a Primary Eye Care Setting: A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of three different ways of helping patients attend their recommended eye care appointments.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The three ways are 1) usual care, which involves a standard reminder letter; 2) automated telephone calls, which utilizes a machine to automatically call patients one month prior to their recommended follow-up date; 3)personalized telephone calls, which utilizes a staff member to personally call patients and offer them the opportunity to schedule at the time of the telephone call.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

100

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107
        • Wills Eye Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age: Over 18 years
  • Primary Eye Care Patients who were recommended for a 6-month, 12-month, or 24-month follow-up appointment during September 2013 through November 2013.
  • Access to a telephone

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Does not speak English

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Automated Telephone System
In addition to a standardized reminder letter, participants also received a telephone call from an automated system to remind them of a recommended follow-up appointment.
Participants receive reminder phone calls by study staff.
Other Names:
  • Study staff phone call
Participants receive a standard reminder letter in the mail.
Other Names:
  • Reminder letter sent in the mail.
Experimental: Personalized Telephone Call
In addition to the usual care letter, a staff member called participants one month prior of recommended follow-up appointment. During this call, participants were given the option to schedule an appointment.
Participants receive a standard reminder letter in the mail.
Other Names:
  • Reminder letter sent in the mail.
Participants receive automated reminder phone calls.
Other Names:
  • Patient appointment message 2000
Active Comparator: Usual Care
Participants randomized to this arm receive a "usual care" letter which is a standard reminder letter from the primary eye care office. This is usual practice in many primary eye care facilities.
Participants receive a standard reminder letter in the mail.
Other Names:
  • Reminder letter sent in the mail.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Appointment Adherence
Time Frame: 3 months
A research assistant examines the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system to assess recommended appointment adherence.
3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Scheduling Appointment
Time Frame: 1 month
Tracking whether the patient made an appointment within 1 month of the reminder letter (usual care), automated phone call, or personalized phone call.
1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Study Director: Lisa Hark, PhD, Wills Eye

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 26, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 3, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

December 4, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 29, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 26, 2016

Last Verified

November 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • WEF 14-040

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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