Health PromotionNCT03965754
Assessing the Impact of myHealth Rewards Enrollment Emails
An observational study of Health Promotion and Wellness Programs, run by Geisinger Clinic at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The purpose of the study is to evaluate, prospectively, the potential impact of different email message conditions (no email, standard promotional email, social norms, and loss framing) on enrollment in a wellness program (myHealth Rewards) by Geisinger Health Plan (GHP) members. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Health Promotion, Wellness Programs
- What is being tested?
- Social norms, Loss framing and Email reminder
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- How many people
- 5,697 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 7 May 2019to 14 May 2019
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Study population: The population consists of Geisinger Health Plan members who are benefits subscribers.
Who may be able to join
- Geisinger employees who are benefits subscribers
Who cannot join
- Those who had already registered for myHealth Rewards in 2019, up through May 6, 2019
- New Geisinger employees hired between December 1, 2018 and May 6, 2019
- Existing Geisinger employees who transitioned from non-subscribers in 2018 to subscribers in 2019
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Assessing the Impact of myHealth Rewards Program-related Email Communications on Enrollment
The purpose of the study is to evaluate, prospectively, the potential impact of different email message conditions (no email, standard promotional email, social norms, and loss framing) on enrollment in a wellness program (myHealth Rewards) by Geisinger Health Plan (GHP) members.
Read the 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), over 20% of eligible GHP members have not yet enrolled in 2019, even after receiving promotional email communications and reminders. Therefore, the current study was developed to test whether different versions of emails are more effective than a standard reminder email or no-email condition in increasing myHealth Rewards login and enrollment rates. The standard email reminder mentions the average premium savings, the ease of the registration process, and the deadline for registering and having health measures on file, plus it provides links for registering and finding free health screenings where health measures can be collected and registered at one convenient time and location. The social norms email notes that a majority (78%) of GHP members' colleagues had enrolled in 2018, it provides a testimonial from a medical director at Geisinger's Commonwealth School of Medicine, stating the ways in which myHealth Rewards helped that doctor personally, and it emphasizes the simplicity and ease of taking the first step toward enrollment. The loss framing email suggests that GHP members are currently "throwing 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, each of the emails will increase enrollment compared with no email. Among GHP members who never enrolled in the past, it is hypothesized that the standard email reminder will not be as effective as the social norms and loss framing emails. Therefore, email conditions will be compared separately among those who did and did not register in 2018. Findings will help inform how best to increase enrollment in a wellness program among health plan members who have already received past promotional communications and who may or may not have participated in the past.
- Conditions
- Health Promotion, Wellness Programs
- Being tested
- Social norms, Loss framing, Email reminder
- Keywords
- Prospect theory
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Social normsBehavioural
Also called Descriptive norms, Social proof
This intervention introduces recipients to descriptive social norms specifying that a majority of their colleagues have signed up for the program, which sets a normative standard against which recipients are expected to compare themselves and to change their behavior accordingly (i.e., when they realize that their behavior is discrepant from that of relevant others). The personal testimonial from a Geisinger medical director serves as a personal exemplar intended to further enhance the effect of the social norms with an implicit indication that the intended behavior is desirable and feasible.
Loss framingBehavioural
Also called Endowment effect
This intervention frames the status quo as a state from which recipients, via inaction, are slated to forfeit a sizable and precise monetary amount to which they should otherwise feel entitled (via loss aversion and the endowment effect). People tend to be risk-seeking in the domain of losses; therefore, this intervention is hypothesized to increase enrollment in the hope of achieving zero loss by meeting program goals, as opposed to a sure loss via inaction.
Email reminderBehavioural
This intervention is a standard email reminder that mentions the average premium savings, the speed and ease of starting the process, and the deadline for registering and having health measures on file, plus it provides two button links for registering and finding screenings.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| No email | No email will be sent out to this subset of GHP members during the week that the other emails are sent. | |
| Standard email reminder | The standard email reminder mentions the average premium savings, the speed and ease of starting the process, and the deadline for registering and having health measures on file, plus it provides two button links for registering and finding free health screenings where health measures can be collected and registered at one convenient time and location. Receives: Behavioral: Email reminder | |
| Social norms email | The social norms email notes that a majority (78%) of GHP members' colleagues had enrolled in 2018, it provides a testimonial from a medical director at Geisinger's Commonwealth School of Medicine, stating the ways in which myHealth Rewards helped that doctor personally, and it emphasizes the simplicity and ease of taking the first step toward enrollment. Receives: Behavioral: Social norms; Behavioral: Email reminder | |
| Loss framing | The loss framing email suggests that GHP members are currently "throwing away" a precise dollar amount (over $2,000) by not participating and that they can therefore avoid missing out on substantial gains (i.e., savings) by taking action. Receives: Behavioral: Loss framing; Behavioral: Email reminder |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Enrollment (7 Days)
Enrollment in the myHealth Rewards program (yes/no) within 7 full days of the beginning of the intervention (i.e., when the emails are first sent).
Measured: 7 days, from May 7 through 13, 2019
Logging in (7 Days)
Logging into the myHealth Rewards program (yes/no) within 7 full days of the beginning of the intervention.
Measured: 7 days, from May 7 through 13, 2019
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted29 May 2019
- Study start7 May 2019
- Primary completion14 May 2019
- Study completion14 May 2019
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Other trials for Health PromotionStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Case-control
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 5,697 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Geisinger Clinic
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Amir Goren, Geisinger Clinic
- Investigators
- Amir Goren, PhD, Principal investigator, Geisinger Clinic
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03965754
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2019-0404
- Status last verified
- Jul 2021
- First submitted
- 24 May 2019
- Last updated
- 26 Jul 2021
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Data with no personally identifiable information will be made available to other researchers on the Open Science Framework for transparency. This will include the essential data and code needed to replicate the analysis that yielded reported findings. The PI did not examine or analyze any data from this study prior to this registration.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 26 Jul 2021. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Assessing the Impact of myHealth Rewards Program-related Email Communications on Enrollment
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03965754
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2019-0404
- Conditions
- Health Promotion, Wellness Programs
- Keywords
- Prospect theory
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 5,697 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Geisinger ClinicUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 7 May 2019 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 14 May 2019 (actual)
- Study completion
- 14 May 2019 (actual)
- First posted
- 29 May 2019 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 5 Oct 2020
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The purpose of the study is to evaluate, prospectively, the potential impact of different email message conditions (no email, standard promotional email, social norms, and loss framing) on enrollment in a wellness program (myHealth Rewards) by Geisinger Health Plan (GHP) members.
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), over 20% of eligible GHP members have not yet enrolled in 2019, even after receiving promotional email communications and reminders. Therefore, the current study was developed to test whether different versions of emails are more effective than a standard reminder email or no-email condition in increasing myHealth Rewards login and enrollment rates. The standard email reminder mentions the average premium savings, the ease of the registration process, and the deadline for registering and having health measures on file, plus it provides links for registering and finding free health screenings where health measures can be collected and registered at one convenient time and location. The social norms email notes that a majority (78%) of GHP members' colleagues had enrolled in 2018, it provides a testimonial from a medical director at Geisinger's Commonwealth School of Medicine, stating the ways in which myHealth Rewards helped that doctor personally, and it emphasizes the simplicity and ease of taking the first step toward enrollment. The loss framing email suggests that GHP members are currently "throwing 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, each of the emails will increase enrollment compared with no email. Among GHP members who never enrolled in the past, it is hypothesized that the standard email reminder will not be as effective as the social norms and loss framing emails. Therefore, email conditions will be compared separately among those who did and did not register in 2018. Findings will help inform how best to increase enrollment in a wellness program among health plan members who have already received past promotional communications and who may or may not have participated in the past.
Study design
- Observational model
- Case-control
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Number of arms
- 4
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| No email | – | –No email will be sent out to this subset of GHP members during the week that the other emails are sent. |
| Standard email reminder | – | Behavioral: Email reminderThe standard email reminder mentions the average premium savings, the speed and ease of starting the process, and the deadline for registering and having health measures on file, plus it provides two button links for registering and finding free health screenings where health measures can be collected and registered at one convenient time and location. |
| Social norms email | – | Behavioral: Social norms, Behavioral: Email reminderThe social norms email notes that a majority (78%) of GHP members' colleagues had enrolled in 2018, it provides a testimonial from a medical director at Geisinger's Commonwealth School of Medicine, stating the ways in which myHealth Rewards helped that doctor personally, and it emphasizes the simplicity and ease of taking the first step toward enrollment. |
| Loss framing | – | Behavioral: Loss framing, Behavioral: Email reminderThe loss framing email suggests that GHP members are currently "throwing away" a precise dollar amount (over $2,000) by not participating and that they can therefore avoid missing out on substantial gains (i.e., savings) by taking action. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- The population consists of Geisinger Health Plan members who are benefits subscribers.
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Geisinger employees who are benefits subscribers
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Those who had already registered for myHealth Rewards in 2019, up through May 6, 2019
- New Geisinger employees hired between December 1, 2018 and May 6, 2019
- Existing Geisinger employees who transitioned from non-subscribers in 2018 to subscribers in 2019
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Social normsAlso: Descriptive norms, Social proofThis intervention introduces recipients to descriptive social norms specifying that a majority of their colleagues have signed up for the program, which sets a normative standard against which recipients are expected to compare themselves and to change their behavior accordingly (i.e., when they realize that their behavior is discrepant from that of relevant others). The personal testimonial from a Geisinger medical director serves as a personal exemplar intended to further enhance the effect of the social norms with an implicit indication that the intended behavior is desirable and feasible. | Behavioural | Social norms email |
| Loss framingAlso: Endowment effectThis intervention frames the status quo as a state from which recipients, via inaction, are slated to forfeit a sizable and precise monetary amount to which they should otherwise feel entitled (via loss aversion and the endowment effect). People tend to be risk-seeking in the domain of losses; therefore, this intervention is hypothesized to increase enrollment in the hope of achieving zero loss by meeting program goals, as opposed to a sure loss via inaction. | Behavioural | Loss framing |
| Email reminderThis intervention is a standard email reminder that mentions the average premium savings, the speed and ease of starting the process, and the deadline for registering and having health measures on file, plus it provides two button links for registering and finding screenings. | Behavioural | Loss framing, Social norms email, Standard email reminder |
Primary outcome
Enrollment (7 Days)
Time frame: 7 days, from May 7 through 13, 2019
Enrollment in the myHealth Rewards program (yes/no) within 7 full days of the beginning of the intervention (i.e., when the emails are first sent).
Logging in (7 Days)
Time frame: 7 days, from May 7 through 13, 2019
Logging into the myHealth Rewards program (yes/no) within 7 full days of the beginning of the intervention.
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 26 Jul 2021.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Data with no personally identifiable information will be made available to other researchers on the Open Science Framework for transparency. This will include the essential data and code needed to replicate the analysis that yielded reported findings. The PI did not examine or analyze any data from this study prior to this registration.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Amir Goren, PhD principal investigator
Geisinger Clinic
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Health Promotion and Wellness Programs, run by Geisinger Clinic at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 26 Jul 2021. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 5 Oct 2020). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Enrollment (7 Days) (time frame: 7 days, from May 7 through 13, 2019). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 26 Jul 2021.