Improving the management of hospital waiting lists by using nudges in letters: A Randomised controlled trial.
Soc Sci Med
; 361: 117343, 2024 Sep 21.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39383816
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
A commonly adopted intervention to help to reduce wait times for hospital treatment is administrative validation, where administrators write to patients to check if a procedure is still required. The did not return (DNR) rate to validation letters is substantial. We tested whether the DNR rate was reduced by introducing nudges to validation letters.METHODS:
Participants from eight public hospitals (N = 2855; in 2017) in Ireland were randomized to receive an existing (control group) or a redesigned validation letter including nudges (intervention group).RESULTS:
Participants in the intervention group were less likely not to return it than those in the control group, OR = .756, SE = .069, p = .002. Control and intervention group DNR rates were 23.97% and 19.24%. This is equivalent to 1 in 5 non-responders changing their behaviour because of the redesigned letter.CONCLUSIONS:
The redesigned letter increased patient compliance with the validation process. The redesign has subsequently been adopted by public hospitals in Ireland.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Soc Sci Med
/
Soc. sci. med
/
Social science and medicine
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de publicação:
Reino Unido