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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02053844

Analyzing the Impact of the Now iKnow Health Care Price Transparency Tool

This project aims to assess the impact of a web-based health care cost and quality tool that is being implemented by a health plan for its members. The study will focus on members working for medium to large employers that have more than 90% of employees enrolled in deductible and tiered network health plans. The study will use an interrupted time series (ITS) design that includes random allocation of half of these employers to a study arm that will receive enhanced promotion of the tool and a $500 lottery incentive for its use in order to increase take-up. With these two study groups (a "high-dose" group receiving enhanced promotion and a lottery, and a "low-dose" group receiving routine promotion of the tool), the study will be able to evaluate whether access to a price transparency tool leads to reduced costs and more value-driven member behavior, and whether extra promotion increases take-up.

Members in the high-dose group who use the tool will be eligible to enter a monthly lottery to win a $500 prize during the 12-month intervention period. In addition to the lottery, employers in the high-dose group will receive additional promotional strategies such as a mailing and messages through the plan's member web portal to promote the tool and the lottery, and e-mails and flyers for employers to promote the tool and lottery to employees.

The aims of this project are to: 1) examine take-up of the tool and factors that predict take-up; and 2) to examine the impact of the tool on total and out-of-pocket health care costs and utilization

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Key information

Conditions

no Specific Condition Targeted Use of a Price Transparency Tool

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

Wellesley, Massachusetts, 02481, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Health plan members from employers with at least 40 subscribers, of which at least 90% are currently in deductible plans or tiered network plans, and of which at least 80% were in deductible or tiered network plans in the prior year

Exclusion criteria

Members in non-group accounts and members in Medicare plans; members in states outside Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Maine

Treatment and study plan

lottery for tool users to win a $500 prize

Other

Intervention group is eligible to enter a monthly lottery to win a $500 gift card if they use the tool each month.

enhanced promotion of the tool to employers and members

Other

Intervention group also receives extra promotion of the tool through mailings, employer outreach, and automated phone calls

Primary outcomes

  1. mean per-member-per-month total health care costs

    Time frame: monthly for 12 months

    employer level per-member-per-month total costs based on claims data

Secondary outcomes

  1. percent of subjects using the tool

    Time frame: measured quarterly for 12 months

    Based on tool usage tracking data

  2. mean per-member-per-month out-of-pocket costs

    Time frame: monthly for 12 months

    employer level per-member-per-month out-of-pocket costs based on claims data

  3. per-member-per-month utilization of health care services

    Time frame: monthly for 12 months

    Employer-level utilization of health services based on claims data, including emergency department visits, encounters, lab services, radiology services, inpatient hospitalizations, MRIs, prescriptions

Other outcomes

  1. reasons for using the tool

    Time frame: measured with each use of the tool, over 12 months

    based on survey report

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Alison Galbraith

Other

Collaborators

  • Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2014
Primary completion
2015
Study completion
2015
First posted
Feb 4, 2014
Registry last updated
Aug 19, 2016

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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