Description of patient questions received by clinical pharmacists in the Nudge Study

Purpose: The Nudge Study is a patient level-randomized trial testing different text message medication refill reminders sent to patients assigned to 4 arms: (1) usual care, (2) generic text, (3) optimized text, and (4) optimized text plus chatbot. This report describes the frequency and types of patient questions sent to clinical pharmacists (CPs) following text reminders.

Methods: Patients were enrolled from Denver Health and Hospital Authority (DHHA) and Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System (VA ECHCS) from October 1, 2019, through May 30, 2021. Included patients responded to at least 1 text or interactive voice response (IVR) message. Patients were dichotomized as those who posed at least 1 question to a CP and those who posed no questions.

Results: Of the 6,325 patients enrolled in an intervention arm, 3,323 (52.5%) responded to at least 1 text or IVR message, and among those responding, 305 (9.2%) responded with a pharmacist question. Patient factors associated with submitting a CP question included age (45-74 years), enrollment from DHHA, and receipt of the optimized text or optimized text plus chatbot message versus the generic text. Questions to CP were in the following categories: medication related (48.2%), refill logistics (38.4%), cost (9.2%), and other (17.7%).

Conclusion: In a text messaging intervention focused on medication refills, there were few questions directed to the CP. Patients assigned to receive optimized texts were more likely to have questions. We hypothesize that this may suggest greater patient engagement regarding their condition, resulting in more questions.