Use of caller ID and text messaging from cell phones to increase response rates in patient surveys

Abstract

Background: High response rates for patient surveys are required in medical literature to ensure non-response bias is minimised. It is often difficult to achieve a satisfactory response rate as patient engagement in surveys is decreasing. A major barrier to phone surveys is getting patients to answer calls from unknown numbers. Purpose: To design a methodology which boosts response rates for telephone-based patient surveys. Research Design: We prospectively analysed the effectiveness of our methodology for increasing patient participation using caller ID and text messanging. Study Sample: Two waves totalling 1313 patients were contacted for participation in a patient survey for a descriptive quantitative and qualitative cohort study using our developed methadology. Data Analysis: We analysed the timepoints at which successful contact was made when using caller ID and text messanging. Results: We achieved a call answer rate of 85.4%, which was a 70.8% increase when compared to a similar patient cohort contacted via blocked caller ID (i.e. with privacy settings). Conclusion: We have developed a simple, inexpensive methodology which, when tested outside the Australian setting and for other projects, shows promise for increasing patient survey response rate.