The Impact of Social Proximity on Conversion to Generic Prescription Medications

The goal of this project is to understand the effects of receiving peer information on individuals' conversion rates from brand name prescription medication to generic prescription medication.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Conversion From Brand Name to Generic Medication
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Social Proximity and Conversion to Generic Medications

Detailed Description

At companies where employees are predominantly union members, we will compare the efficacy of a peer information intervention using a testimonial from a union identified employee to an intervention using a testimonial with no union identification, as well as to a no-testimonial intervention.

The control arm will receive a letter signed by our partner company's Chief Medical Officer, explaining the health and monetary benefits of switching from brand name prescription medication to generic prescription medication. The testimonial treatment arm will receive the exact same letter, but the letter will feature an employee's testimonial along with the first name, last initial, city and state of the employee giving the testimonial. The testimonial and union arm will receive the same letter as the testimonial treatment arm but with the addition of the union affiliation of the employee giving the testimonial.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 10000
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Missouri
    • St. Louis, Missouri, United States, 63121
      • Express Scripts

Participation Criteria

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:

• Employee of a company that uses Express Scripts as its pharmacy benefits manager.
• Employee at a company with predominantly union employees.
• Currently taking a brand name medication with an exact generic equivalent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Employees on any psychological prescription medication.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Testimonial and Union Arm; The testimonial and union arm will receive the same letter as the testimonial treatment arm but with the addition of the union affiliation of the employee giving the testimonial.	Other: Social Proximity and Conversion to Generic Medications; At companies where employees are predominantly union members, we will compare the efficacy of a peer information intervention using a testimonial from a union identified employee to an intervention using a testimonial with no union identification, as well as to a no-testimonial intervention.
Experimental: Control; The control arm will receive a letter signed by our partner company's Chief Medical Officer, explaining the health and monetary benefits of switching from brand name prescription medication to generic prescription medication.	Other: Social Proximity and Conversion to Generic Medications; At companies where employees are predominantly union members, we will compare the efficacy of a peer information intervention using a testimonial from a union identified employee to an intervention using a testimonial with no union identification, as well as to a no-testimonial intervention.
Experimental: Testimonial Treatment Arm; The testimonial treatment arm will receive the exact same letter as the control arm, but the letter will feature an employee's testimonial along with the first name, last initial, city and state of the employee giving the testimonial.	Other: Social Proximity and Conversion to Generic Medications; At companies where employees are predominantly union members, we will compare the efficacy of a peer information intervention using a testimonial from a union identified employee to an intervention using a testimonial with no union identification, as well as to a no-testimonial intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Conversion from Brand Name to Generic Prescription Medication	We will measure conversion rates of employees from brand name to generic prescription medication by treatment arm.	One month to one year after the intervention.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Union Status and Conversation to Generic Medication	We will see how union affiliation affects the employee conversion rates from brand name to prescription medication by treatment arm.	One month to one year after the intervention.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: David Laibson, Ph.D, National Bureau of Economic Research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 30, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 30, 2010
• First Posted (Estimate): December 1, 2010

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): May 18, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 16, 2012
• Last Verified: May 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Generic Medication; Brand Name Medication; Conversion Rates; Social Proximity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 0002; P30AG034532 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)