RIDGEFIELD, Conn., Oct. 15, 2020 Boehringer Ingelheim has entered a collaboration with the Yale Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator to launch a study exploring digital health technologies for adults with heart failure. The goal of the study is to determine the impact of three digital health technologies on patient outcomes, clinical efficiencies and the improvement in patient quality of life.
Technology partners were selected for evaluation in the study based on their ability to increase engagement in disease management and provide information to healthcare providers. They include Bodyport™, a data-driven smart scale with enhanced cardiac monitoring directly accessible by providers; Noom®, a data-driven, live coaching app featuring personalized plans for diet and weight management; and Conversa™, an automated conversational platform designed to motivate patients to actively manage their health.
“Exploring solutions for the heart failure community to help manage this debilitating condition is a priority for Boehringer Ingelheim,” said Christine Marsh, senior vice president, Market Access, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “We launched this study with Yale to help identify how digital health technology may address some of the key pain points for adults with heart failure, like the need for more frequent communication with healthcare providers in between visits and coaching to help with the daily management of the condition.”
In the U.S., heart failure affects over six million people, with more than one million people hospitalized due to the condition every year. Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump sufficient blood to the rest of the body and is the most common and severe complication of a heart attack. People with heart failure often experience breathlessness and fatigue, which can severely impact their quality of life.
The innovative study design will randomize patients to one of three technologies or usual care in a single study over six months. Considering the current telemedicine environment, adults with heart failure who are currently enrolled in a Yale Heart Failure Disease Management Clinic will be eligible to participate in the study, which requires only at-home use of the technology and no in-person meetings. All participants will receive standard of care, including regular follow-ups with their clinic providers. Three investigational arms will add one of the three digital technologies, each of which will be evaluated versus standard of care alone. Enrollment began in September with a goal of recruiting a total of 200 patients. Results will be published next year.
Digital health technology has become increasingly important in helping people manage chronic conditions like heart failure, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an increased reliance on telemedicine. Tools that help people actively manage health and easily track overall health status, symptoms and medications may help improve their quality of life. For healthcare providers, digital health technologies can provide real-time data to track patient outcomes, help them ensure treatment adherence and stay connected to ensure continuity of care.
“Our digital health study with Boehringer Ingelheim will move beyond evaluating if these tools work and establish if they actually help make patients’ lives better, which is how these technologies should be judged,” said F. Perry Wilson, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Yale University. “The health of heart failure patients can change quickly, and these tools can help healthcare providers intervene before serious complications lead to hospitalizations, alleviating our overburdened healthcare system. We hope this study sets a new standard for how these digital tools are evaluated.”
This Boehringer Ingelheim and Yale collaboration supports the goals of our alliance with Eli Lilly and Company, which focuses on caring for people with and without diabetes and addressing areas of unmet medical need.
