Improving the management of hospital waiting lists by using nudges in letters: a randomised controlled trial

Murphy, Robert P., Taaffe, Carol, Byrne, Molly, Delaney, Liam ORCID: 0000-0002-3644-1161, Lunn, Peter D., Robertson, Deirdre A., Ryan, Helen and Wood, Alex M. ORCID: 0000-0002-8010-1455 (2024) Improving the management of hospital waiting lists by using nudges in letters: a randomised controlled trial. Social Science and Medicine, 361. ISSN 0277-9536

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Authors
Divisions:	Psychological and Behavioural Science
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Date Deposited:	22 Oct 2024 13:42
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 04:32
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/125853

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