Email Campaign to Increase Uptake of myGeisinger

Email Campaign to Encourage Patients to Complete Sign-up Process for Geisinger's Patient Portal

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT04332614

Enrollment

14099

Registered

2020-04-02

Start date

2020-04-06

Completion date

2020-05-08

Last updated

2021-05-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Health Behavior, Telehealth

Keywords

Behavioral Economics, Patient Portal, Social Proof, Endowment Effect, Less-is-better

Brief summary

The purpose of the current study is to test different email messages to determine the most effect way of promoting enrollment in Geisinger's patient portal, called myGeisinger.

Detailed description

Online patient portals are convenient tools that improve patient access to healthcare services while often reducing burden to both patients and providers. However, fewer than half of patients have enrolled in Geisinger's patient portal, myGeisinger. The purpose of the current study is to assess what kind of messaging improves the effectiveness of an email campaign targeted at enrolling patients into Geisinger's online patient portal, called myGeisinger. Currently, Geisinger sends an email every month to patients who have started but not completed the enrollment process (they have had an activation code generated but have not yet used that code to enroll). This study will A/B test 5 email messages to assess if they perform better than the current standard email message. Performance will be assessed based on whether patients open the email, click on the myGeisinger enrollment link, and enroll in myGeisinger. Statistical analyses will employ generalized linear models with a binary distribution and log-link function.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALLess-is-better

BEHAVIORALSocial proof

BEHAVIORALEndowment / decision staging

BEHAVIORALStandard email

Study design

Observational model

CASE_CONTROL

Time perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 88 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Geisinger patients whose myGeisinger status is Pending, meaning an activation code has been generated for them, but they have not completed activation

Exclusion criteria

* Patients without email addresses on file * Patients who received emails from this monthly myGeisinger marketing campaign within the last 2 months

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	8-10 days post-intervention	Whether email was opened (yes / no)
Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	8-10 days post-intervention	Whether the link / button to start the activation process was clicked (yes / no)
Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	8-10 days post-intervention	Whether the patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	8-10 days post-intervention	Whether email was opened (yes / no)
Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	32-35 days post-intervention	Whether email was opened (yes / no)
Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	8-10 days post-intervention	Whether the patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)
Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	8-10 days post-intervention	Whether the link / button to start the activation process was clicked (yes / no)
Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	32-35 days post-intervention	Whether the link / button to start the activation process was clicked (yes / no)
Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	32-35 days post-intervention	Whether the patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

Arm	Count
Control A standard marketing message encouraging activation and describing the benefits of myGeisinger Standard email: Email	2,350
Focused on Provider Communication A simple message focused on one benefit of myGeisinger: communicating easily with providers Less-is-better: Email	2,350
Focused on Scheduling A simple message focused on one benefit of myGeisinger: scheduling and managing appointments online Less-is-better: Email	2,350
Focused on Medical Information Access A simple message focused on one benefit of myGeisinger: accessing medical information, like test results Less-is-better: Email	2,350
Social Proof A message similar to control, but including information about how many other patients are using myGeisinger Social proof: Email	2,350
Endowment / Decision Staging A message similar to control, but framing myGeisinger as something that patients already have, and just need to take one more step to activate. Endowment: Give patients the impression they already have the account, so they value it more. Decision staging: Break down the process into multiple stages - having an account and activating that account- and giving the impression that they are almost there because the first stage is complete Endowment / decision staging: Email	2,349
Total	14,099

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic	Total	Focused on Provider Communication	Focused on Scheduling	Focused on Medical Information Access	Social Proof	Control	Endowment / Decision Staging
Age, Categorical <=18 years	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants
Age, Categorical >=65 years	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants
Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected	0 Participants	—	—	—	—	—	—
Region of Enrollment United States	14099 participants	2350 participants	2350 participants	2350 participants	2350 participants	2350 participants	2349 participants
Sex: Female, Male Female	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants
Sex: Female, Male Male	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants	NA Participants

Adverse events

Event type	EG000 affected / at risk	EG001 affected / at risk	EG002 affected / at risk	EG003 affected / at risk	EG004 affected / at risk	EG005 affected / at risk
deaths Total, all-cause mortality	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0
other Total, other adverse events	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0
serious Total, serious adverse events	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0

Outcome results

Primary

Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Whether email was opened (yes / no)

Time frame: 8-10 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who were delivered an email (i.e. email did not bounce back) and for whom there was a record in the EHR 10 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	558 Participants
Less-is-better	Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	1528 Participants
Social Proof	Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	375 Participants
Endowment / Decision Staging	Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	488 Participants

p-value: 0.024895% CI: [0.7856042, 0.9838058]Regression, Logistic

p-value: <0.000195% CI: [0.5159511, 0.6931219]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.013395% CI: [0.7285712, 0.9638653]Regression, Logistic

Primary

Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Whether the patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)

Time frame: 8-10 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who opened the intervention email and for whom there was a record in the EHR 10 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	41 Participants
Less-is-better	Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	83 Participants
Social Proof	Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	18 Participants
Endowment / Decision Staging	Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	38 Participants

p-value: 0.10395% CI: [0.49167734, 1.0669736]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.1295% CI: [0.35943749, 1.1246013]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.78995% CI: [0.67282661, 1.6852036]Regression, Logistic

Primary

Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Whether the link / button to start the activation process was clicked (yes / no)

Time frame: 8-10 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who opened the intervention email and for whom there was a record in the EHR 10 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	134 Participants
Less-is-better	Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	160 Participants
Social Proof	Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	31 Participants
Endowment / Decision Staging	Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	73 Participants

p-value: <0.000195% CI: [0.2870513, 0.4771231]Regression, Logistic

p-value: <0.000195% CI: [0.1881589, 0.4321194]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.000395% CI: [0.4059477, 0.7631354]Regression, Logistic

Secondary

Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Whether email was opened (yes / no)

Time frame: 32-35 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who were delivered an email (i.e. email did not bounce back) and for whom there was a record in the EHR 32 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	591 Participants
Less-is-better	Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	1626 Participants
Social Proof	Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	402 Participants
Endowment / Decision Staging	Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	512 Participants

p-value: 0.028695% CI: [0.7912382, 0.9871694]Regression, Logistic

p-value: <0.000195% CI: [0.5193168, 0.6932528]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.005595% CI: [0.7167043, 0.9440832]Regression, Logistic

Secondary

Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Whether email was opened (yes / no)

Time frame: 8-10 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who were delivered an email (i.e. email did not bounce back) and for whom there was a record in the EHR 10 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	524 Participants
Less-is-better	Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	522 Participants
Social Proof	Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	482 Participants

p-value: 195% CI: [0.8680298, 1.147543]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.27695% CI: [0.7771682, 1.031395]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.28995% CI: [0.7785981, 1.033531]Regression, Logistic

Secondary

Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Whether email was opened (yes / no)

Time frame: 32-35 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who were delivered an email (i.e. email did not bounce back) and for whom there was a record in the EHR 32 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	568 Participants
Less-is-better	Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	554 Participants
Social Proof	Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	504 Participants

p-value: 0.928495% CI: [0.8501783, 1.1175028]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.061295% CI: [0.741461, 0.9787827]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.140795% CI: [0.7602296, 1.0047804]Regression, Logistic

Secondary

Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Whether the patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)

Time frame: 32-35 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who opened the intervention email and for whom there was a record in the EHR 32 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	55 Participants
Less-is-better	Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	152 Participants
Social Proof	Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	29 Participants
Endowment / Decision Staging	Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	55 Participants

p-value: 0.97695% CI: [0.72693253, 1.3893201]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.24695% CI: [0.4741259, 1.2108458]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.42895% CI: [0.79090107, 1.7393021]Regression, Logistic

Secondary

Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Whether the patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)

Time frame: 32-35 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who opened the intervention email and for whom there was a record in the EHR 32 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	54 Participants
Less-is-better	Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	46 Participants
Social Proof	Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	52 Participants

p-value: 0.75995% CI: [0.5709078, 1.301251]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.89795% CI: [0.7331329, 1.635633]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.49895% CI: [0.8377249, 1.926816]Regression, Logistic

Secondary

Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Whether the patient enrolled in myGeisinger (yes / no)

Time frame: 8-10 days post-intervention

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	24 Participants
Less-is-better	Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	28 Participants
Social Proof	Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	31 Participants

p-value: 0.82995% CI: [0.6750639, 2.065546]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.40495% CI: [0.8279689, 2.476702]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.75395% CI: [0.7161724, 2.05348]Regression, Logistic

Secondary

Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Whether the link / button to start the activation process was clicked (yes / no)

Time frame: 32-35 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who opened the intervention email and for whom there was a record in the EHR 32 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	147 Participants
Less-is-better	Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	188 Participants
Social Proof	Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	34 Participants
Endowment / Decision Staging	Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment	86 Participants

p-value: <0.000195% CI: [0.310437, 0.5022914]Regression, Logistic

p-value: <0.000195% CI: [0.1875017, 0.4153254]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.001195% CI: [0.4528751, 0.8209762]Regression, Logistic

Secondary

Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Whether the link / button to start the activation process was clicked (yes / no)

Time frame: 32-35 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who opened the intervention email and for whom there was a record in the EHR 32 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	57 Participants
Less-is-better	Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	51 Participants
Social Proof	Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	80 Participants

p-value: 0.884895% CI: [0.6109603, 1.352333]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.012795% CI: [1.1762411, 2.43245]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.003395% CI: [1.2800275, 2.705356]Regression, Logistic

Secondary

Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Whether the link / button to start the activation process was clicked (yes / no)

Time frame: 8-10 days post-intervention

Population: Patients who opened the intervention email and for whom there was a record in the EHR 10 days post-intervention.

Arm	Measure	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Control	Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	45 Participants
Less-is-better	Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	42 Participants
Social Proof	Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)	73 Participants

p-value: 0.9459195% CI: [0.6003591, 1.444944]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.004195% CI: [1.2809137, 2.817898]Regression, Logistic

p-value: 0.001595% CI: [1.3648075, 3.048678]Regression, Logistic

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026

Email Campaign to Increase Uptake of myGeisinger

Conditions

Keywords

Brief summary

Detailed description

Related papers

Interventions

Sponsors

Study design

Eligibility

Inclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

Design outcomes

Primary

Secondary

Countries

Participant flow

Participants by arm

Baseline characteristics

Adverse events

Outcome results

Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Email Opened: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Email Opened: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Enrollment: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Enrollment: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Link Clicked: Control vs. Less-is-better vs. Social Proof vs. Endowment

Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)

Link Clicked: Within Less-is-better (Provider Communication vs. Managing Appointments vs. Medical Information Access)