Default eligible patients into vaccination appointments

Defaulting eligible patients into appointments to vaccinate on a specific day, time, and location, with an option to opt-out, can be more effective than giving them the option to schedule their own appointments.

Behavioral Tool: Default

Benchmarked Intervention

Experiment Overview

Faculty and staff at Rutgers University were randomized to either an opt-in or opt-out condition. Those in the opt-out condition received an e-mail explaining that the participant had been scheduled for a flu shot appointment, with the day, time, and location provided. Those in the opt-in condition received an e-mail explaining that free seasonal flu shots were available and provided a link to a Web page where participants could schedule an appointment for the following week.

Impact

Source: Chapman, G. B., Li, M., Colby, H., & Yoon, H. (2010). Opting in vs opting out of influenza vaccination. Jama, 304(1), 43-44. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/186162