In Philly Emergency Departments, Text Messages Helped Patients Seek Public Benefits More Often

Tens of billions of dollars in federal, state, and municipal assistance remain unclaimed each year because people who are eligible do not apply for programs that provide tax relief, food, help with energy bills, and other programs that address health-related social needs.

LDI Senior Fellows Austin Kilaru, Raina Merchant, Anish Agarwal, and colleagues tested ways to motivate patients in the emergency department to contact a benefits navigator and explore the programs they might be eligible for. Providing an informational flyer in the emergency department did not motivate action, the researchers found. However, one-quarter of patients who received the flyer along with follow-up text messages in the two weeks after their visits reached out to the benefits navigator, and 18% applied to at least one program.