Increasing Screening for Cancer Using EHR-Nudges Replication

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Breast Cancer

• Registration Number: NCT06995703
• Lead Sponsor: Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine

Brief Summary

In this study, personalized nudges to clinicians and patients will be evaluated to help increase breast cancer screening rates in accordance with USPSTF guidelines among women with a primary care visit. In partnership with Penn Medicine (Penn) and Case Western Reserve University-University Hospitals (UH), two complementary, concurrent 6-month, cluster randomized, pragmatic trials were conducted from December 2023 to October 2024. This trial will now replicate those interventions at Lancaster General Health (LGH), incorporating learnings from the primary trials while also adapting to align with existing health system protocols and policies. The patient nudge interventions include pre- and post-visit text message reminders to encourage the patient to schedule their mammogram, and the clinician nudge intervention includes a Smart Data Element message in the electronic health record (EHR) reminding the care team that the patient is overdue and that patients are more likely to complete their screening if recommended and ordered by their clinician.

Detailed Description

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality in the United States. While strong USPSTF guideline recommendations support appropriate screening for early detection and to avoid preventable deaths, breast cancer screening is often underutilized. Increasing breast cancer screening rates is challenging, in part, because it requires complementary decisions from clinicians (e.g., recommend and counsel patients about screening) and patients (e.g., to internalize risks and choose to complete screening). Presently, the lack of interventions directly targeting both clinicians' and patients' decision-making may underscore the relatively stagnant screening rates in the United States. There is a significant need to develop and scale low-cost interventions that increase breast cancer screening while simultaneously addressing the needs of high-risk patients and reducing disparities. Building upon our prior work, we propose to develop and test EHR-based clinician and patient nudges at a replication site (Lancaster General Health) to help increase screening mammography rates. We will compare the effectiveness of clinician and patient nudges in the overall patient population and separately among high-risk patients to inform what methods are most effective for each of these populations.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2025-05
• Study First Submitted: 2025-05-21
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-05-21
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-05-21
• Study First Posted: 2025-05-29
• Last Update Posted: 2025-05-29
• Study Start: 2025-08-01
• Primary Completion: 2026-02-01
• Study Completion: 2026-08-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: Female
• Target Recruitment: 7920

Inclusion Criteria

All patients must meet the following criteria to be eligible:

1. Women between 40 and 74 years of age
2. A scheduled new or return (non-urgent/sick) primary care visit at one of the study practices at Lancaster General Health
3. Are overdue and eligible for a mammogram per Epic Health Maintenance
4. Does not have a future scheduled mammogram appointment

Patients meeting at least one of the following criteria will be considered high risk for screening non-completion:

1. Medicare Insurance
2. Medicaid Insurance
3. No EHR patient portal account
4. Zero log-ins to EHR patient portal in the previous year

Exclusion Criteria

Patients will be excluded from the study if they:

1. Have a history of bilateral mastectomy, breast cancer, or metastatic cancer
2. Have a mammogram exclusion modifier in Health Maintenance
3. Have no phone number (home or mobile) listed in their chart

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: FACTORIAL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Proportion of patients who complete a screening mammogram within 3 months after the visit	3 months	The primary outcome is screening mammogram completion within 3 months after the first eligible primary care visit.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Proportion of patients who complete a screening mammogram within 6 months after the visit	6 months	The secondary outcome is screening mammogram completion within 6 months after the first eligible primary care visit.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Lancaster General Health; 🇺🇸 Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States