Mailed Letter Versus Phone Call to Increase Diabetic-Related Retinopathy Screening Engagement by Patients in a Team-Based Primary Care Practice: Prospective, Single-Masked, Randomized Trial
BackgroundVision loss from diabetic-related retinopathy (DR) is preventable through regular screening. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to test different patient engagement approaches to expand a teleophthalmology program at a primary care clinic in the city...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JMIR Publications
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e37867 |
| _version_ | 1797734545291739136 |
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| author | Vess Stamenova Megan Nguyen Nike Onabajo Rebecca Merritt Olivera Sutakovic Kathryn Mossman Ivy Wong Lori Ives-Baine R Sacha Bhatia Michael H Brent Onil Bhattacharyya |
| author_facet | Vess Stamenova Megan Nguyen Nike Onabajo Rebecca Merritt Olivera Sutakovic Kathryn Mossman Ivy Wong Lori Ives-Baine R Sacha Bhatia Michael H Brent Onil Bhattacharyya |
| author_sort | Vess Stamenova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundVision loss from diabetic-related retinopathy (DR) is preventable through regular screening.
ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to test different patient engagement approaches to expand a teleophthalmology program at a primary care clinic in the city of Toronto, Canada.
MethodsA teleophthalmology program was set up in a large, urban, academic, team-based primary care practice. Patients older than 18 years with type 1 or type 2 diabetes were randomized to one of the following 4 engagement strategies: phone call, mail, mail plus phone call, or usual care. Outreach was conducted by administrative staff within the clinic. The primary outcome was booking an appointment for DR screening.
ResultsA total of 23 patients in the phone, 28 in the mail, 32 in the mail plus phone call, and 27 in the control (usual care) group were included in the analysis. After the intervention and after excluding patients who said they were screened, 88% (15/17) of patients in the phone, 11% (2/18) in the mail, and 100% (21/21) in the mail and phone group booked an appointment with the teleophthalmology program compared to 0% (0/12) in the control group. Phoning patients positively predicted patients booking a teleophthalmology appointment (P<.001), whereas mailing a letter had no effect.
ConclusionsPatient engagement to book DR screening via teleophthalmology in an urban, academic, team-based primary care practice using telephone calls was much more effective than patient engagement using letters or usual care. Practices that have access to a local DR screening program and have resources for such engagement strategies should consider using them as a means to improve their DR screening rates.
Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03927859; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03927859 |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:45:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-defa630d099d43d8be7ea13b0b9c9701 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:45:54Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-defa630d099d43d8be7ea13b0b9c97012023-08-28T23:25:31ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712023-01-0125e3786710.2196/37867Mailed Letter Versus Phone Call to Increase Diabetic-Related Retinopathy Screening Engagement by Patients in a Team-Based Primary Care Practice: Prospective, Single-Masked, Randomized TrialVess Stamenovahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3252-7766Megan Nguyenhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2413-1406Nike Onabajohttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9817-0275Rebecca Merritthttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2414-9259Olivera Sutakovichttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4238-3455Kathryn Mossmanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4898-1659Ivy Wonghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0830-7504Lori Ives-Bainehttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8998-2001R Sacha Bhatiahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6206-5318Michael H Brenthttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8720-5185Onil Bhattacharyyahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5219-7288 BackgroundVision loss from diabetic-related retinopathy (DR) is preventable through regular screening. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to test different patient engagement approaches to expand a teleophthalmology program at a primary care clinic in the city of Toronto, Canada. MethodsA teleophthalmology program was set up in a large, urban, academic, team-based primary care practice. Patients older than 18 years with type 1 or type 2 diabetes were randomized to one of the following 4 engagement strategies: phone call, mail, mail plus phone call, or usual care. Outreach was conducted by administrative staff within the clinic. The primary outcome was booking an appointment for DR screening. ResultsA total of 23 patients in the phone, 28 in the mail, 32 in the mail plus phone call, and 27 in the control (usual care) group were included in the analysis. After the intervention and after excluding patients who said they were screened, 88% (15/17) of patients in the phone, 11% (2/18) in the mail, and 100% (21/21) in the mail and phone group booked an appointment with the teleophthalmology program compared to 0% (0/12) in the control group. Phoning patients positively predicted patients booking a teleophthalmology appointment (P<.001), whereas mailing a letter had no effect. ConclusionsPatient engagement to book DR screening via teleophthalmology in an urban, academic, team-based primary care practice using telephone calls was much more effective than patient engagement using letters or usual care. Practices that have access to a local DR screening program and have resources for such engagement strategies should consider using them as a means to improve their DR screening rates. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03927859; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03927859https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e37867 |
| spellingShingle | Vess Stamenova Megan Nguyen Nike Onabajo Rebecca Merritt Olivera Sutakovic Kathryn Mossman Ivy Wong Lori Ives-Baine R Sacha Bhatia Michael H Brent Onil Bhattacharyya Mailed Letter Versus Phone Call to Increase Diabetic-Related Retinopathy Screening Engagement by Patients in a Team-Based Primary Care Practice: Prospective, Single-Masked, Randomized Trial Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | Mailed Letter Versus Phone Call to Increase Diabetic-Related Retinopathy Screening Engagement by Patients in a Team-Based Primary Care Practice: Prospective, Single-Masked, Randomized Trial |
| title_full | Mailed Letter Versus Phone Call to Increase Diabetic-Related Retinopathy Screening Engagement by Patients in a Team-Based Primary Care Practice: Prospective, Single-Masked, Randomized Trial |
| title_fullStr | Mailed Letter Versus Phone Call to Increase Diabetic-Related Retinopathy Screening Engagement by Patients in a Team-Based Primary Care Practice: Prospective, Single-Masked, Randomized Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mailed Letter Versus Phone Call to Increase Diabetic-Related Retinopathy Screening Engagement by Patients in a Team-Based Primary Care Practice: Prospective, Single-Masked, Randomized Trial |
| title_short | Mailed Letter Versus Phone Call to Increase Diabetic-Related Retinopathy Screening Engagement by Patients in a Team-Based Primary Care Practice: Prospective, Single-Masked, Randomized Trial |
| title_sort | mailed letter versus phone call to increase diabetic related retinopathy screening engagement by patients in a team based primary care practice prospective single masked randomized trial |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e37867 |
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