Automated Text Message–Based Program and Use of Acute Health Care Resources After Hospital Discharge

Importance Postdischarge outreach from the primary care practice is an important component of transitional care support. The most common method of contact is via telephone call, but calls are labor intensive and therefore limited in scope. Objective To test whether a 30-day automated texting program to support primary care patients after hospital discharge reduces acute care revisits. Design, Setting, and Participants A 2-arm randomized clinical trial was conducted from March 29, 2022, through January 5, 2023, at 30 primary care practices within a single academic health system in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Patients were followed up for 60 days after discharge. Investigators were blinded to assignment, but patients and practice staff were not. Participants included established patients of the study practices who were aged 18 years or older, discharged from an acute care hospitalization, and considered medium to high risk for adverse health events by a health system risk score. All analyses were conducted using an intention-to-treat approach. Intervention Patients in the intervention group received automated check-in text messages from their primary care practice on a tapering schedule for 30 days following discharge. Any needs identified by the automated messaging platform were escalated to practice staff for follow-up via an electronic medical record inbox. Patients in the control group received a standard transitional care management telephone call from their practice within 2 business days of discharge. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary study outcome was any acute care revisit (readmission or emergency department visit) within 30 days of discharge. Results Of the 4736 participants, 2824 (59.6%) were female; the mean (SD) age was 65.4 (16.5) years. The mean (SD) length of index hospital stay was 5.5 (7.9) days. A total of 2352 patients were randomized to the intervention arm and 2384 were randomized to the control arm. There were 557 (23.4%) acute care revisits in the control group and 561 (23.9%) in the intervention group within 30 days of discharge (risk ratio, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.92-1.13). Among the patients in the intervention arm, 79.5% answered at least 1 message and 41.9% had at least 1 need identified. Conclusions and Relevance In this randomized clinical trial of a 30-day postdischarge automated texting program, there was no significant reduction in acute care revisits. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05245773