Health Promotion, Wellness Programs
Conditions
Keywords
Prospect theory
Brief summary
The purpose of the study is to evaluate, prospectively, the potential impact, on myHealth Rewards wellness program enrollment prior to the 2019 November submission deadline, of sending different messages via email to Geisinger Health Plan (GHP) members who have just been hired.
Detailed description
The myHealth Rewards wellness program managed by GHP rewards those GHP members who carry their insurance through employment at Geisinger with reduced health insurance premiums over the course of the following year, if members register for the program and have their health measures on file by the enrollment deadline and are then able to meet their health goals by the respective due date. In spite of the potential savings to health plan members and the wellness program's potential to motivate engagement in healthy activities (with consequent improvement in health outcomes), about 23% of eligible existing GHP members did not enroll during the primary 2019 enrollment period, even after receiving promotional email communications and reminders. Therefore, the current study was developed to test whether a revised version of a standard welcome email is more effective than the standard email in increasing myHealth Rewards login and enrollment rates. The standard welcome email is what would typically be sent by GHP to encourage enrollment among new hires; it mentions the benefits of enrollment (maintaining good health and saving money on insurance premiums), the average premium savings, the ease of the registration process, and the deadline for registering and having health measures on file, plus it provides registration steps and hyperlinks for registering and finding free health screenings where health measures can be collected and registered at one convenient time and location. The loss frame email recommends that GHP members not throw away a precise monetary amount in savings by not participating and that they can therefore avoid missing out on substantial gains (i.e., savings) by taking action. It is hypothesized that, on average, the loss frame email will increase enrollment compared with the standard email, among this population of new hires for whom this is only the second time that they have been informed about myHealth Rewards. Findings will help inform how best to increase enrollment in a wellness program among health plan members who are new to the system.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALWelcome email
BEHAVIORALLoss frame
Sponsors
Geisinger Clinic
Study design
Observational model
CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Any Geisinger new hire, regardless of benefits status, who started on or after July 1, 2019 and before November 30, 2019
Exclusion criteria
* Existing Geisinger employees hired prior to July 1, 2019 * New hires who do not have an email address on file
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of People Enrolled Within 7 Days | 7 days | Enrollment in the myHealth Rewards program (yes/no) within 7 full days of the beginning of the intervention for each cohort (i.e., when the emails are first sent within each weekly new hire cohort). Data will be aggregated across cohorts, including the July 16 cohort and every subsequent cohort through the week prior to reminder emails scheduled to be sent out in October, 2019. |
| Number of People Who Logged in to the Program Within 7 Days | 7 days | Logging into the myHealth Rewards program (yes/no) within 7 full days of the beginning of the intervention for each cohort (i.e., when the emails are first sent within each weekly new hire cohort). Data will be aggregated across cohorts, including the July 16 cohort and every subsequent cohort through the week prior to reminder emails scheduled to be sent out in October, 2019. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Recruitment details
New employees received emails from July 16, 2019 to October 8, 2019. Enrollment data was gathered until December 20, 2019.
Pre-assignment details
7 employees were excluded from analysis, as they registered before the emails were sent (e.g., after learning about the program during new hire orientation).
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Standard Welcome Email The standard welcome email mentions the benefits of enrollment and the deadline for registering and having health measures on file, plus it provides registration steps and hyperlinks for registering and finding free health screenings.
Welcome email: Email | 409 |
| Loss Frame Email The loss frame email recommends that GHP members not throw away a precise dollar amount in savings (over $2,000) by not participating and that they can therefore avoid missing out on substantial gains (i.e., savings) by taking action.
Welcome email: Email
Loss frame: Email | 415 |
| Total | 824 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Total | Standard Welcome Email | Loss Frame Email |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Categorical <=18 years | 0 Participants | — | — |
| Age, Categorical >=65 years | 0 Participants | — | — |
| Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years | 0 Participants | — | — |
| Race and Ethnicity Not Collected | 0 Participants | — | — |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 824 participants | 409 participants | 415 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 0 Participants | — | — |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 0 Participants | — | — |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 |
Outcome results
Primary
Number of People Enrolled Within 7 Days
Enrollment in the myHealth Rewards program (yes/no) within 7 full days of the beginning of the intervention for each cohort (i.e., when the emails are first sent within each weekly new hire cohort). Data will be aggregated across cohorts, including the July 16 cohort and every subsequent cohort through the week prior to reminder emails scheduled to be sent out in October, 2019.
Time frame: 7 days
| Arm | Measure | Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS) |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Welcome Email | Number of People Enrolled Within 7 Days | 131 Participants |
| Loss Frame Email | Number of People Enrolled Within 7 Days | 130 Participants |
p-value: 0.82895% CI: [0.72, 1.3]Regression, Logistic
Primary
Number of People Who Logged in to the Program Within 7 Days
Logging into the myHealth Rewards program (yes/no) within 7 full days of the beginning of the intervention for each cohort (i.e., when the emails are first sent within each weekly new hire cohort). Data will be aggregated across cohorts, including the July 16 cohort and every subsequent cohort through the week prior to reminder emails scheduled to be sent out in October, 2019.
Time frame: 7 days
Population: This data was not collected due to administrative error.