Child Health, Text Messaging
Conditions
Keywords
child health, well child visits, text messaging
Brief summary
This project will use Twilio as a platform for a text messaging campaign to implement timely follow up with parents/guardians of children ages 0 to 17 years who have missed Well Child Visits (WCVs). The first phase of this project was an open trial. This second phase of the study will be a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to randomly assign parents/guardians of children who missed a WCV to an intervention condition or no intervention, and assess reasons for missed visits and experiences at last visit. Parents/guardians will receive text messages notifying them of missed visits and prompting them to reschedule, as well as inviting them to complete an online survey. Each reminder message will at minimum direct parents/guardians to reschedule by phone or by the patient portal. Outcomes of the follow-up campaign will be evaluated, including rescheduled visits within 6 weeks of missed visit and attendance at rescheduled visit. This aim will incorporate patient Electronic Health Record (EHR) data into mixed effects logistic regressions for the primary study outcomes.
Detailed description
Well-Child visits (WCV) are an opportunity to maximize the health and future well-being and development of children. Missed visits, however, can result in negative outcomes for patients and families and for the healthcare system. For patients, missed primary care visits can result in greater Emergency Department (ED) visits and hospitalizations, and in delays in diagnosing a variety of medical conditions, including identification of child abuse and neglect. For healthcare systems, missed visits result in decreased efficiency, lower quality measures, decreased provider productivity, and loss in revenue. Although smart phones are nearly ubiquitous, even among more economically disadvantaged populations, literature to date has reported only on using text messages for pre-visit reminders. There is a tremendous opportunity to study use of text messaging to engage families in follow-up for missed WCV. Even more so, testing the use of text messages with different content is missing, as well as using text messages to invite patients to share reasons for missing the last WCV.
Interventions
Text messages will be sent to parents/guardians of children ages 0 to 17 years who missed their well child visits.
Sponsors
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
The second phase of the study will be an randomized controlled trial to randomly assign parents/guardians of children who missed a WCV to an intervention condition or no intervention, and assess reasons for missed visits and experiences at last visit. Each reminder message will at minimum direct parents/guardians to reschedule by phone or by the patient portal.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Patients included in text messaging campaign (caregivers receive text messages): * Are 0-17 years * No-showed for a well-child visit scheduled at one of five locations: Pediatrics-Downtown Health Plaza, Family Medicine-Piedmont Plaza, Pediatrics-Winston East, Family Medicine-Peace Haven, or Pediatrics-Clemmons * Have a phone number on record for a primary caregiver * With primary language for contact that is English or Spanish Caregivers must be 18 years or older
Exclusion criteria
Patients who: * Are 18+ years old * No-showed for a different type of visit, or no-showed for a WCV at a different practice location * Already rescheduled their appointment by the time the sample list was generated * Have primary language specified that is not English or Spanish. Caregivers who are under 18 years old
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of rescheduled well child visits | 6 weeks after missed well child visit | If parent/guardian rescheduled well child visit |
| Number of completed (rescheduled) well child visits | 6 weeks after missed well child visit | If parent/guardian completed (rescheduled) well child visit |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of child patient emergency department visits | 6 weeks after missed well child visit | If child patient had an emergency department visit |
| Number of child patient hospitalizations | 6 weeks after missed well child visit | If child patient required hospitalization |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed