N/A
N=327
Improving Follow-Up for Discharged Emergency Care Patients
General Medicine · Emergency Medicine · Mobile Health
Bottom Line
View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03002311 ↗Enrolled (actual)
327
Serious AEs
11.5%
Results posted
Nov 2020
Primary outcome: Primary: Adherence to Follow-up Appointment — 30; 74 Participants — p=<0.001
Study Design & Population
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- N/A
- Interventions
- Epharmix/CareSignal eHealth (Device)
- Age
- Pediatric, Adult, Older Adult · 5+ yrs
- Sex
- All
- Sponsor
- Washington University School of Medicine
- Primary completion
- Sep 2017
Outcome Measures
| Outcome | Result | p-value |
|---|---|---|
| PRIMARY Adherence to Follow-up Appointment |
30; 74 | <0.001 sig |
| SECONDARY Revisits to the ED |
50; 60 | 0.8 |
Summary
This study's purpose is to test the effects of an electronic health intervention platform developed by Epharmix (also known as CareSignal), which features two-way SMS text messages and phone calls intended to improve clinical outcomes compared to the standard of care. This was a randomized open, blinded end-point (PROBE) trial of adult patients discharged from the ED and referred to a provider for follow-up care. Participants in the intervention arm received a self-scheduling text or phone message that automatically connected them to their referral provider to schedule a follow-up appointment and sent them appointment reminders. Those in the control arm received standard of care written instructions to contact listed referral providers. The primary outcome was time to the follow-up appointment.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- age 18 years or older,
- accessible short message service (SMS) capable mobile phone or residential landline,
- able to read English or have English-speaking family member to assist with phone communications,
- discharged directly from the Barnes Jewish hospital (St. Louis, MO) emergency department (ED), and
- given a clinical referral to make an outpatient follow-up appointment at time of discharge to a specific clinic or provider
Exclusion Criteria
- unable or refused to provide consent,
- could not be contacted by a phone call or SMS,
- non-English speaking,
- were admitted to the hospital, and
- already had a follow-up appointment scheduled before being discharged from the ED
Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03002311). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.