Short Message Service Based Patient Edu… | Clinical Trial

Key information

Conditions

Patient Satisfaction Behavior Health Behavior Treatment Adherence and Compliance

Age range

18 year–90 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Utah Orthopedics

Salt Lake City, Utah, 84108, United States

About this study

Back and neck related complaints effect as much as 11% of the U.S. population and are one of the most common presenting complaints at health care visits. A small subset of these patients receive spine surgery of various types in the hopes of alleviating symptoms that are recalcitrant to conservative management. The utilization of spine surgery has been rapidly increasing.2 An estimated 413,000 spinal fusions were performed in the U.S. in 2008 accounting for almost $34 billion in charges.

Patient satisfaction has become an increasingly important measure of healthcare quality. This paradigm shift is evident in the changing reimbursement models used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is a survey-based assessment of patient satisfaction that was initially developed in 2002. Currently, HCAHPS provides the ability to compare patient satisfaction with the care they receive at various healthcare systems across the country. These scores are used as part of a value-based purchasing initiative that can lead to a hospital gaining or losing as much as 1.5% of their annual medicare revenue as a result of patient satisfaction based incentives. This presents an important opportunity to optimize patient satisfaction in order to both improve patient care and preserve hospital income.

A number of novel text-message based applications have been developed for healthcare use in various settings. In the surgical setting text messaging has been used to provide pre-operative education modules, as well as to track medication adherence after transplant. This study aims to develop and critically evaluate, a text-messaging based patient education system aimed at improving patient satisfaction with the post-operative course after spine surgery.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

Patients 18 years and over undergoing spine surgery at the University of Utah

Exclusion criteria

Patients under 18 years of age.

Treatment and study plan

SMS

Other

Patients who are randomized to the intervention arm will be signed up for the automated SMS program. This cohort will receive text messages after surgery, timed from the day of discharge through 14 days post-op. Patients in this cohort will receive text messages each day. The number of text messages varies on patient interest and "yes" responses to see additional information.

Primary outcomes

SpineFriend Postoperative Questionnaire

Time frame: Follow Up Visits at 2 or 6 weeks

Patient satisfaction will consist of the SpineFriend Postoperative Questionnaire

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Utah

Other

Registry information

Official study title

The Role of Postoperative SMS Based Patient Education in Spine Patients

Acronym: SMS

Important dates

Study start: 2017
Primary completion: 2024
Study completion: 2024
First posted: Jul 7, 2020
Registry last updated: Nov 22, 2024

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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Completed