AstraZeneca working with Mass General on tech for heart failure, asthma
The organizations said the collaboration will use AstraZeneca’s AMAZE disease management platform to deliver insights to clinically validate digital health solutions.
The biotechnology company AstraZeneca announced on Tuesday that it would be collaborating with Massachusetts General Hospital to create and clinically validate patient-centric digital health solutions.
According to the company, the collaboration will use AstraZeneca’s new AMAZE disease management platform to study heart failure and asthma management.
“We are incredibly proud to be working closely with Massachusetts General Hospital to utilize this digital platform to close gaps in patient care, ultimately leading to better outcomes,” said Ruud Dobber, president of the BioPharmaceuticals Business Unit at AstraZeneca.
WHY IT MATTERS
AstraZeneca says its AMAZE disease management platform uses remote monitoring to identify at-risk patients and deliver insights to the clinical care team at the point of care.
According to details for the heart failure study published on ClinicalTrials.gov, patients enter personal information using the AMAZE app, which will feed it into a clinician-facing dashboard embedded within their electronic health record.
Patients will be enrolled in the study after an inpatient heart-failure admission at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The organizations say the first two studies are aimed at piloting AMAZE in a real-world setting with the goal of improving patient engagement, care-team communication and clinical outcomes.
They also hope to reduce healthcare costs in doing so.
“We believe the AMAZE disease management platform has the potential to transform the current healthcare delivery paradigm for patients around the world living with chronic diseases,” said Dobber.
After the conclusion of the heart failure and asthma pilots, Massachusetts General and AstraZeneca say they plan to expand the use of AMAZE across multiple chronic disease areas to patients throughout and beyond the Mass General Brigham system.
“While there is no precedent for this type of deep relationship, we hope this alliance will serve as a model for future collaboration between pharma and healthcare providers,” said Dr. Peter L. Slavin, president of Massachusetts General Hospital.
THE LARGER TREND
Although currently making headlines for its COVID-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca’s AMAZE platform is among several patient engagement tools deployed to address chronic disease needs in patients.
At Ochsner Health in Louisiana, for example, patients submit regular home-based digital readings from a connected device linked through a smartphone or tablet. The information is then transmitted to the patient’s EHR, allowing the care team to provide them with individualized interventions.
“Digital medicine helps individuals manage their chronic conditions from home while staying connected to a dedicated care team that monitors their digital device readings while driving personalized results through lifestyle coaching and medication management,” said Dr. David Houghton, medical director for telemedicine and digital medicine at Ochsner.
ON THE RECORD
“By embracing the tension of different perspectives and expertise, we can move faster and more efficiently while maintaining the highest levels of scientific rigor and clinical excellence,” said Slavin.
