549-P: Assessing Feasibility of a Diabetes Mellitus Program Using Behavioral Economics to Optimize Outreach and Self-Management Support with Technology—The DM-BOOST Project

Introduction: The DM-BOOST intervention was developed to enhance engagement with diabetes self-management training (DSMT). Participants received peer-written text message tips with nudges to reply with personal preferences. They then completed a video call with the DM-BOOST team to confirm patient portal access, review key functions, and set a diabetes behavior goal. This was later followed by receipt of a patient portal message with their goal, which they commit to sending to the DSMT provider they are scheduled to meet with.

Methods: Adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 8) received mailed invitations and a recruitment phone call. Participants (n=60) were randomized (1:1) to usual care or DM-BOOST. All participants received assistance obtaining a DSMT referral and scheduling a DSMT appointment. The primary outcome of interest was the DSMT appointment no-show/cancellation rate.

Results: Enrolled participants (n=60) were 60.0% female with a mean age of 45.5 years (SD = 8.3). The average HbA1c at enrollment was 10.1% (SD = 1.8). All intervention participants (30/30) had a DSMT appointment scheduled compared to 86.7% of comparison participants (26/30). Intervention group participants had fewer DSMT no-shows/cancellations (3/30, 10%) compared to comparison group participants (10/26, 35%) (p = 0.01).

Conclusions/Discussion: Technology-based interventions guided by behavioral economics can increase initial engagement with DSMT. Several system-level barriers, including challenges in obtaining referrals and scheduling appointments, were identified. Secondary outcomes, including patient-reported changes in diabetes self-efficacy, self-management skills, and treatment satisfaction are being evaluated. Future research efforts include cultural adaption of DM-BOOST for Spanish-speaking patients and rigorous implementation evaluation.