Dataset Information

Examining the use of loyalty point incentives to encourage health and fitness centre participation.

ABSTRACT: A unique financial incentive intervention was conducted in Canada, where YMCA members were offered loyalty points (Air Miles Reward Miles) to encourage visits to YMCA Health and Fitness Centres. The purpose of this evaluation study was to determine if YMCA members would participate in a loyalty point incentive program and if the weekly YMCA visit rates differed between Air Miles collectors and non-collectors. YMCA swipe data were collected from 2012 to 2016, including 12?months pre-program (baseline data), 36?months during the intervention period, and 3?months post-program. The final analyses, conducted in 2017, included 459,146 participants from 13 YMCA locations. Quasi-Poisson regression models were used to compare the weekly visit rates between Air Miles collectors and non-collectors. Of the 459,146 participants, 6.4% (n?=?29,449) registered their Air Miles card with their YMCA membership (Air Miles collectors). Average weekly visit rates over the entire study period were significantly higher (1.37 to 3.84 times) among the Air Miles collector group than those in the non-collector group, but there was no evidence that incentives were associated with increased YMCA visits when adjusting for the pre-program period. This research demonstrated that incentives are a practical and acceptable public health strategy in Canada. More research is needed into how to harness the reach of loyalty point providers such as Air Miles, and how incentive-based programs should be optimally designed and delivered (e.g., type, timing, and magnitude of incentive).

SUBMITTER: Faulkner G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6403079 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Examining the use of loyalty point incentives to encourage health and fitness centre participation.

Faulkner Guy G Dale Leila Pfaeffli LP Lau Erica E

Preventive medicine reports 20190213

A unique financial incentive intervention was conducted in Canada, where YMCA members were offered loyalty points (Air Miles Reward Miles) to encourage visits to YMCA Health and Fitness Centres. The purpose of this evaluation study was to determine if YMCA members would participate in a loyalty point incentive program and if the weekly YMCA visit rates differed between Air Miles collectors and non-collectors. YMCA swipe data were collected from 2012 to 2016, including 12 months pre-program (base ...[more]

PMID: 30886815

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Project description:BackgroundWeb-based sexual health resources are typically evaluated in terms of their efficacy. Information is lacking about how sexual health promotion websites are perceived and used. It is essential to understand website use to address challenges with adherence and attrition to Web-based health interventions. An existing theoretical framework for examining loyalty to electronic health (eHealth) interventions has been not yet been applied in the context of sexual health promotion nor has the association between e-loyalty and intended intervention efficacy outcomes been investigated.ObjectiveThe objectives of this study were to investigate users' loyalty toward a sexual health website (ie, e-loyalty), measure user perceptions of the website, and measure the association between e-loyalty and perceived knowledge increase and intent to change behavior.MethodsOver 4 months, website users (clients and health care providers) participated in an open, online, cross-sectional survey about their user experiences that measured e-loyalty, user perceptions, and intended website efficacy outcomes. Relationships between user perceptions and e-loyalty were investigated using structural equation modeling (SEM). Associations between e-loyalty and website efficacy outcomes were tested using Spearman rank correlation.ResultsA total of 173 participants completed user perception questions and were included in the analysis. E-loyalty was high for both clients and providers and was significantly correlated with clients' perceived knowledge increase (?(171)=.30, P<.001), their intent to have safer sex (?(171)=.24, P=.01), and their intent to get tested for sexually transmitted infections (?(171)=.37, P<.001). The SEM showed that trustworthiness, overall experience, active trust, and effectiveness were directly related to e-loyalty. Finding the website "easy to understand" was significantly related to active trust (ie, participants' willingness to act upon information presented on the website).ConclusionsE-loyalty may be related to the efficacy of the selected website in improving one's sexual health and was significantly associated with all three intended knowledge and behavioral outcomes. To increase e-loyalty, trustworthiness and active trust are important user perceptions to deliberately engender. Our findings indicate that understanding a website contributes to active trust, thereby highlighting the importance of considering eHealth literacy in designing health promotion websites. Our study confirms the relevance of e-loyalty as an outcome for evaluating the antecedents of the use and efficacy of online public health interventions across disciplines by adapting and validating an existing e-loyalty framework to the field of sexual health promotion. Our findings suggest that e-loyalty is positively associated with measures of website efficacy, including increased knowledge and intent to change behavior. Longitudinal research with larger samples could further investigate the relationships between e-loyalty, website understandability, and outcomes of online health interventions to determine how the manipulation of website characteristics may impact user perceptions and e-loyalty.

Project description:ObjectivesUtilisation of point-of-care C-reactive protein testing for lower respiratory tract infection has been limited in UK primary care, with costs and funding suggested as important barriers. We aimed to use existing National Health Service funding and policy mechanisms to alleviate these barriers and engage with clinicians and healthcare commissioners to encourage implementation.DesignA mixed-methods study design was adopted, including a qualitative survey to identify clinicians' and commissioners' perceived benefits, barriers and enablers post-implementation, and quantitative analysis of results from a real-world implementation study.InterventionsWe developed a funding specification to underpin local reimbursement of general practices for test delivery based on an item of service payment. We also created training and administrative materials to facilitate implementation by reducing organisational burden. The implementation study provided intervention sites with a testing device and supplies, training and practical assistance.ResultsDespite engagement with several groups, implementation and uptake of our funding specification were limited. Survey respondents confirmed costs and funding as important barriers in addition to physical and operational constraints and cited training and the value of a local champion as enablers.ConclusionsAlthough survey respondents highlighted the clinical benefits, funding remains a barrier to implementation in UK primary care and appears not to be alleviated by the existing financial incentives available to commissioners. The potential to meet incentive targets using lower cost methods, a lack of policy consistency or competing financial pressures and commissioning programmes may be important determinants of local priorities. An implementation champion could help to catalyse support and overcome operational barriers at the local level, but widespread implementation is likely to require national policy change. Successful implementation may reproduce antibiotic prescribing reductions observed in research studies.

Project description:ObjectivesTo evaluate whether greater experience and success with performance incentives among physician practices are related to increased participation in Medicare's voluntary value-based payment reforms.Data sources/study settingPublicly available data from Medicare's Physician Compare (n = 1,278; January 2012 to November 2013) and nationally representative physician practice data from the National Survey of Physician Organizations 3 (NSPO3; n = 907,538; 2013).Study designWe used regression analysis to examine practice-level relationships between prior exposure to performance incentives and participation in key Medicare value-based payment reforms: accountable care organization (ACO) programs, the Physician Quality Reporting System ("Physician Compare"), and the Meaningful Use of Health Information Technology program ("Meaningful Use"). Prior experience and success with financial incentives were measured as (1) the percentage of practices' revenue from financial incentives for quality or efficiency; and (2) practices' exposure to public reporting of quality measures.Data collection/extraction methodsWe linked physician participation data from Medicare's Physician Compare to the NSPO3 survey.Principal findingsThere was wide variation in practices' exposure to performance incentives, with 64 percent exposed to financial incentives, 45 percent exposed to public reporting, and 2.2 percent of practice revenue coming from financial incentives. For each percentage-point increase in financial incentives, there was a 0.9 percentage-point increase in the probability of participating in ACOs (standard error [SE], 0.1, p < .001) and a 0.8 percentage-point increase in the probability of participating in Meaningful Use (SE, 0.1, p < .001), controlling for practice characteristics. Financial incentives were not associated with participation in Physician Compare. Among ACO participants, a 1 percentage-point increase in incentives was associated with a 0.7 percentage-point increase in the probability of being "very well" prepared to utilize cost and quality data (SE, 0.1, p < .001).ConclusionsPhysicians organizations' prior experience and success with performance incentives were related to participation in Medicare ACO arrangements and participation in the meaningful use criteria but not to participation in Physician Compare. We conclude that Medicare must complement financial incentives with additional efforts to address the needs of practices with less experience with such incentives to promote value-based payment on a broader scale.

Dataset Information

Examining the use of loyalty point incentives to encourage health and fitness centre participation.

Publications

Examining the use of loyalty point incentives to encourage health and fitness centre participation.

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