Reminders, Cost Sharing, and Healthcare Use

Last registered on October 07, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Reminders, Cost Sharing, and Healthcare Use
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008285
Initial registration date
October 05, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 07, 2021, 4:02 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Finland
Region
Multiple regions

Primary Investigator

Name
Lauri Sääksvuori
Affiliation
University of Tampere | University of Turku
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Tapio Haaga
PI Affiliation
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
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PI Name
Jussi Tervola
PI Affiliation
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-10-11
End date
2021-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Health
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We conduct a large-scale randomized controlled trial in Finland by sending three types of information letters. We examine whether these letters affect healthcare use. All letters remind receivers about the importance of seeking care to treat health problems. In addition, two out of three letters provide information about co-payments in health care and inform recipients especially of a recent law reform that made curative primary care visits exempt from co-payments.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Haaga, Tapio, Lauri Sääksvuori and Jussi Tervola. 2021. "Reminders, Cost Sharing, and Healthcare Use." AEA RCT Registry. October 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8285-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-10-11
Intervention End Date
2021-11-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We have three outcomes in the domain of primary care utilization: the number of triages, nurse visits and doctor visits within the follow-up (6 months). See attachment for a more detailed description of primary outcome variables
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
The number of referrals to specialized care and the number of drug prescriptions for newly initiated therapies. See attachment for a more detailed description of secondary outcome variables.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Large-scale (stratified) randomized controlled trial with three (equally large) active treatment arms and a control group. Within each of the 25 target municipalities, 2/3 of the eligible households are randomized to the control group (T0) while the remaining 1/3 of the eligible households are randomly split into three equally sized active treatment arms (T1-T3). This is to make sure that 1/3 of the eligible households in each municipality receive a letter. In other words, our trial design balances the municipality of residence.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer (randomization script attached)
Randomization Unit
Primary level of randomization is individual (there is only randomly treated individual within the household)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
47398 individuals (in 47398 separate households)
Sample size: planned number of observations
47398 treated individuals (in 47398 separate households),132312 individuals in control group.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The sample of treated individuals is divided into three equally large treatment arms (sample size by treatment arm = 1/3 * 47398)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2021-08-24
IRB Approval Number
THL/3181/6.02.01/2021
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials