Evaluating a Bidirectional Priming Intervention for Goals-of-care Communication in Oncology (Prime GOC)

March 3, 2026 updated by: Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine

Development of a Bidirectional Priming Intervention for Goals-of-care Communication in Oncology

This pilot study will evaluate whether an intervention aimed at hospitalized patients with advanced lung and gastrointestinal cancers can help facilitate goals-of-care (GOC) communication with their oncologists after discharge.

While GOC communication is a recommended component of routine oncology care, many patients with solid cancers do not have the opportunity to talk with their oncologist about their goals and end-of-life preferences. Prior research has shown that a systematic method of prompting GOC communication with at-risk patients would address a key barrier to timely GOC communication and ensure that patients receive care that is in line with their personal preferences.

This trial will enroll 80 participants, who will be randomized 1:1 to either an intervention or a control group. Participants in the intervention group will complete a short survey regarding their goals, preferences, and disease understanding. Survey responses will be shared with each participant's outpatient oncology team. Oncologists will subsequently receive a nudge in the electronic medical record reminding them of key survey responses and encouraging them to discuss them at the patient's first clinic visit after hospital discharge.

The primary feasibility outcome is intervention completion rate and the primary clinical outcome is GOC documentation within 30 days of discharge in the intervention group compared to the control group.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

40

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

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Unplanned admission to the HUP Solid Oncology service;
  2. Underlying diagnosis of advanced lung or GI cancer, defined as metastatic or locally advanced disease;
  3. Anticipated discharge within the next 72h; and
  4. Primary oncologist is based at HUP; or
  5. Family member/caregiver of a patient meeting the above 4 criteria.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Unable to complete survey in 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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control
Experimental: Intervention
Participants in the intervention arm will complete a survey prior to hospital discharge. Their responses will be shared with each participant's outpatient oncology team.
Behavioral: Priming Survey
13-item priming survey assessing patients' goals, treatment preferences, and disease understanding.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intervention Completion Rate
Time Frame: From enrollment to 30 days after hospital discharge
The primary feasibility outcome is intervention completion rate, defined as successful completion of the survey, response sharing, and electronic medical record nudge for all participants assigned to the intervention arm.
From enrollment to 30 days after hospital discharge
GOC Documentation
Time Frame: From enrollment to 30 days after hospital discharge
The presence of outpatient goals-of-care documentation in the electronic medical record within 30 days of hospital discharge as determined by manual review.
From enrollment to 30 days after hospital discharge

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine

Collaborators

Conquer Cancer Foundation

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 (Actual)

July 21, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 26, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 25, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 25, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

May 2, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • UPCC 26924

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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