Well-Child Visit Trial

Overview

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.

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.