Targeted Letters to Reduce Avoidable Emergency Department Attendances

January 7, 2015 updated by: The Behavioural Insights Team

The study aims to test whether it is possible to reduce pressure on Emergency Departments by sending a personal feedback letter to people who have recently attended an Emergency Department and whose health issues could likely have been dealt with elsewhere. These attendances clearly have many causes. However, it is likely that some attendances are due to behavioural factors - in other words, the various ways in which users interact with services. This study focuses on one particular behavioural factor: lack of feedback to users making avoidable visits.

The study will take place in collaboration with an NHS hospital trust. Each week during the trial, the hospital trust will identify those Emergency Department attendances in the last seven days which, according to clinical judgement, could have been dealt with elsewhere. Patients will then be randomly selected to receive a letter containing information on alternative healthcare options for non-emergency health concerns. Patient records will be analysed to determine whether the patients who received the letter are less likely to make an avoidable repeat visit to the Emergency Department in the future, compared with patients who received no letter.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

25000

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.

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

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults who attended a participating Emergency Department during the trial period and whose attendance was codes as 'No Investigation No Significant Treatment'

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children under the age of 18
  • All departments and hospitals other than participating Emergency Departments.

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: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Letter
Patients receive a letter containing information on alternative healthcare options for non-emergency health concerns.
Behavioral: Letter
Patients receive an information letter following an avoidable visit to the Emergency Department.
No Intervention: No letter
Patients receive no letter (this is the usual care).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of avoidable Emergency Department re-attendances (Attendances are classified as avoidable using the 'No Investigation No Significant Treatment' code.)
Time Frame: Measured at 4 months after previous attendance
Attendances are classified as avoidable using the 'No Investigation No Significant Treatment' code.
Measured at 4 months after previous attendance

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

The Behavioural Insights Team

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Hannah Behrendt, MPhil, BA, Behavioural Insights Team

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

January 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

November 1, 2015

Study Completion (Anticipated)

November 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 6, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 7, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

January 8, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

January 8, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 7, 2015

Last Verified

January 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2014055

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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