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MyChart/Epic Recruitment

Introduction

The MyChart Recruitment Service is a collaboration between data analysts, experts in recruitment methods, and clinical researchers that offers a secure method of electronically recruiting potential research participants. Target populations are identified and reached through database queries that are embedded in Epic. Potential participants are messaged via their activated Johns Hopkins MyChart account. Team members at the Recruitment Innovation Unit (RIU) within The Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) work together to manage this service. Our goal is to support ongoing research at Johns Hopkins, while also empowering and engaging patients by connecting them with clinical research studies that may be of interest to them.

Study Team Satisfaction

Among the study teams that have utilized our Service, 100% agreed that they would recommend the MyChart Recruitment Service to others or use it in future projects. Additionally, 100% of the teams reported that they were very satisfied with the quality of support provided by the Service. 

How to Get Started 

Inquiries to utilize the MyChart recruitment service should be sent to our Data Manager, Tosin Tomiwa, at [email protected]. Additionally, you have the option to submit a service intake form through this link: https://mrprcbcw.hosts.jhmi.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=4HDWKKLJNWTXRELE

Please note that approval from our service committee is a prerequisite before proceeding with the submission to the IRB.

Our Publications

For more information on our Service/this recruitment method, please see our publications:

Gleason, K. T., Ford, D. E., Gumas, D., Woods, B., Appel, L., Murray, P., … Dennison Himmelfarb, C. R. (2018). Development and preliminary evaluation of a patient portal messaging for research recruitment service. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science2(1), 53–56. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2018.10

Miller, H. N., Gleason, K. T., Juraschek, S. P., Plante, T. B., Lewis-Land, C., Woods, B., … Dennison Himmelfarb, C. R. (2019). Electronic medical record-based cohort selection and direct-to-patient, targeted recruitment: Early efficacy and lessons learned. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association26(11), 1209–1217. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocz168

Plante, T. B., Gleason, K. T., Miller, H. N., Charleston, J., McArthur, K., Himmelfarb, C. D., … Juraschek, S. P. (2020). Recruitment of trial participants through electronic medical record patient portal messaging: A pilot study. Clinical Trials (London, England)17(1), 30–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1740774519873657

Frequently Asked Questions

Patients that can be identified through the sole use of EMR data. These data include demographic information, ICD9/10 codes, and healthcare utilization patterns.

In the past, report sizes have ranged between 400 and 20,000 patients. This number is based upon your study’s eligibility criteria.

The average response rate is 3.8%. The effectiveness of this method can differ by population of interest and trial commitments.

There are three components of the service that will incur costs 

  • You are provided 2 hours of consultation from the Recruitment Innovation Unit. After you exceed these 2 hoursyou will be charged $55/hour.
  • You are provided 2 hours of consultation from the Core for Clinical Research Data Acquisition (CCDA) to discuss your query. After you exceed these 2 hours, you will be charged $85/hour. In addition, you will be charged $85/hour by this team as they build the computable phenotype/query. A computable phenotype is a structured EMR data that identifies a population via demographics, healthcare utilization, and/or ICR9/10 codes. This generally takes 10 hours. 
  • You will be charged $118/hour from the Epic team to embed the query into Epic. This takes roughly 3 hours. 

The majority of the work by the study team is completed in the preliminary steps of the process. After the team has IRB approval and the report is generated, the team will establish a timeline and calendar with the MyChart team members. From that point, the MyChart team will handle the sending of messages on a regular basis. A customized REDCap survey will be provided to each study team to track the inquiries.

A regular calendar will be established with the MyChart team as you begin. Depending on the size of the report, different frequencies can be established. Study teams choose different frequencies, ranging from every week to every month. This can be adjusted throughout the process.

 

Our Study Teams

Principal Investigator

Study Topic/Title

Population

Currently Recruiting

Kelly Gleason

Leveraging the Patient’s Experience to Improve Diagnosis

Adults (>18)

Yes 

Amanda Fadar 

Early detection of pre-cancer and cancer of the uterus

Adult Women (30-80) 

Yes

Corinne Keet

Early Peanut Introduction- Translation to Clinical Practice

Infants and pediatrics (0-8)

Yes

Robert Findling and Marco A. Grados

Adolescent Mood Disorders

Pediatrics/Adolescents

No

Tammy Brady

EMPower: Electronic Media Powering positive health changes in youth

Adolescents

No

Christopher Earley

Anemia in females

Adults (>18)

Yes

Mark C. Liu

Cathelicidin and Vitamin D: Impact on Populations At-Risk and with COPD

Young to Older Adults (18-80)

No

Nadia Hansel

Clinical Trial of Air Cleaners to Improve Indoor Air Quality and COPD Health

Middle-Aged &Older Adults (>40)

No

Susan Carnell

Brain and food

Pediatrics (3-13)

No

Jennifer Payne

Perinatal Mood Disorders

Pregnant Women

Yes

Pete Miller III

The Diet Gout Trial

Adults (>18)

No

Kelly Gleason

  1. Atrial Fibrillation
  2. Diagnostics in the ER

Adults

No

Lawrence Appel

STURDY: Fall reduction and Vitamin D

Older Adults (>70)

No

Paul Rosenberg

BDPP Treatment for Mild Cognitive Impairment and prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Middle-Aged & Older Adults (50-80)

No

Nicola Heller

Immune Cell Biology and Function in allergic disease

Young to Middle-aged Adults (18-45)

No

Wendy Bennet

Daily 24 study

Adults (>18)

No 

Sheela Magge

Cardiometabolic health in adolescents of south Asian ancestry

Adolescents

No

Karen Seymour

Neurobehavioral Correlates of Frustration in ADHD

Adolescents

No

Michelle Eakin

The Medication Adherence Research in COPD (MARC) study

Adults (>18)

No