failure to accure

The specific aims of the project are: 1) to test the effectiveness of consumer-directed financial incentives paired with provider-directed financial incentives, compared to provider-directed financial incentives alone, for increasing advance care planning (ACP) among Medicaid beneficiaries; and 2) to assess perceptions regarding the appropriateness of consumer-directed financial incentives for ACP among study participants. The investigators hypothesize that consumer-directed financial incentives will result in a 15-percentage point absolute increase in the proportion of subjects completing ACP. The investigators do not advance hypotheses about the qualitative component.

This is a parallel cluster randomized controlled single-blind trial of consumer-directed financial incentives paired with provider-directed financial incentives (intervention), compared to provider-directed financial incentives alone (control) on the completion of ACP among Partnership HealthPlan of California (PHC) Medi-Cal patients. PHC is a county-organized health system contracted by the State of California to provide a health care delivery system for 360,000 Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Northern California. PHC has 400 contracted Primary Care Provider (PCP) entities, representing over 2000 individual physicians, working in solo practice, small groups, community health centers, large groups, and integrated health systems. The rationale for using PHC is their commitment to experimenting with strategies to improve ACP, including their current quality improvement program incentive payment to PCPs to discuss and document ACP with patients 65+ and <65 with a serious chronic illness.

The investigators will randomize 40 PCPs to one of two different patient education packets for their patients. Each PCP is eligible for financial incentives for documenting ACP (usual care), regardless of the randomization group.

Each PCP will be responsible for identifying and enrolling 10 eligible subjects during routine clinic visits, for a target enrollment of 400 patient subjects.

The investigators will stratify randomization based on salience of the financial incentive (e.g., accrues directly to non-salaried provider, such as in a private practice, or accrues to the organization of a salaried provider, such as in a Federally Qualified Health Center or multispecialty group).

All enrolled patients will receive access to the patient education tool, Prepare for Your Care (www.prepareforyourcare.org), developed by Dr. Sudore for low-literacy Medi-Cal populations, in their education packets. The intervention group patients will additionally be offered a consumer (patient) financial incentive. the primary outcome of the study is having a conversation with the PCP about ACP. Secondary outcomes include: 1) website use metrics and 2) attitudes about providing financial incentives for ACP (among a purposively sampled subset of participants).

PCP Subject Inclusion Criteria:

• Partnership HealthPlan of California Medicaid and/or Medicare provider

PCP Subject Exclusion Criteria:

• Prohibition by clinic director

Patient Subject Inclusion Criteria:

• Partnership HealthPlan of California Medicaid and/or Medicare enrollee;
• Age 65+ or < 65 with a life-limiting illness (including advanced cardiac disease [end-stage congestive heart failure, severe coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy (LVEF <25%)], advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, amputation due to vascular disease, cancer [metastatic/recurrent], dementia, diabetes mellitus with creatinine clearance under 50, or an amputation, end stage renal disease, generalized debility and decreased functioning, long term resident of skilled nursing facility, stroke [w/at least 50% decreased function]);
• Internet access (computer, tablet, phone)

Patient Subject Exclusion Criteria:

• Completion of a Partnership HelathPlan of California advance care planning attestation form within the last 12 months;
• Inability to read English