Leveraging digital to drive value for your cardiovascular therapies

Executive Summary

Cardiovascular disease impacts people all across the globe—to the tune of half a billion patients worldwide.1 In the U.S. alone, almost 50% of adults are living with cardiovascular disease² and it is the leading killer globally.³ The World Heart Federation cites a variety of risk factors, including an increase in tobacco users, inadequate exercise and unhealthy diets. According to the American Cancer Society, e-cigarette use among adults 18-29 in the U.S. increased from 8.8% to 10.2% between 2019 and 2021.⁴ And when it comes to diet, approximately three billion people worldwide aren't able to access nutritious food,⁵ meaning the issue isn't just the choices people are making, but also the options they have to choose from.

Not surprisingly given the prevalence of the disease, the value of the global cardiovascular drug market is on the rise. In 2018 it was worth $47.29 billion, and projections show it hitting $63.96 billion in 2026.⁶ As awareness of cardiovascular disease surges, the market grows, making this industry increasingly valuable. More products are launched all the time, including drugs and digital solutions.^7,8 Currently, cardiovascular is the fifth most active therapeutic area for Software as a Medical Device, with 10% of SaMD efforts in this field.

Digital solutions can help:⁹

Empower patients and providers
Enhance the patient experience
Drive first-fill rate and persistence
Improve long-term outcomes
Reduce healthcare costs

Connected devices and cloud-based digital solutions can play an important role in helping providers better care for patients with cardiovascular conditions. BrightInsight offers holistic digital solutions for better cardiovascular disease management.

Digital health interventions (DHI) are paving the way for people living with, or at risk of, [cardiovascular disease] to be able to manage and monitor their health on a daily basis without always having to go to a hospital or clinic to get expert advice. Patient empowerment, and more rapid and accurate decision making with less burden on health systems can be achieved through use of well validated DHI. These are exciting times for both patients and healthcare professionals: the future is bright if we can co-create modern solutions to our current problems."

Professor Martin Cowie, Consultant Cardiologist and Co-Chair of the World Heart Federation Roadmap on Digital Health in Cardiology

World Heart Federation Roadmap for Digital Health in Cardiology

White paper Sa MD most active therapeutic areas v24

1 https://world-heart-federation.org/cvd-roadmaps/whf-global-roadmaps/digital-health-in-cardiology/
2 https://brightinsight.com/blog/how-digital-disease-management-solutions-can-improve-care-for-cardiovascular-diseases
3 https://brightinsight.com/digital-cardiovascular
4 https://pressroom.cancer.org/releases?item=1207
5 https://world-heart-federation.org/what-we-do/healthy-diet/
6 https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/cardiovascular-drugs-market-100379
7 https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/cardiovascular-drugs-market-100379
8 https://world-heart-federation.org/cvd-roadmaps/whf-global-roadmaps/digital-health-in-cardiology/
9 https://world-heart-federation.org/wp-content/uploads/WHF-Digital-Health-in-Cardiology-Roadmap-Summary-Document.pdf
10 https://brightinsight.com/digital-cardiovascular

Challenges in treating cardiovascular disease

The World Heart Federation has seen promise in a variety of digital health solutions, including mobile apps, telehealth, wearable devices and electronic decision support tools.¹¹ While many solutions are available, challenges in treating cardiovascular disease are primarily concerned with disease management. These challenges include:

Complex conditions: There are a wide variety of cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease, heart attack and stroke.¹² Comorbidities are common, leaving patients juggling complicated treatments for multiple conditions. Each condition may require numerous medications and drastic lifestyle changes.
Ongoing monitoring requirements: For therapies like PCSK9 inhibitors, recent and regular LDL testing is required for patients in order for insurance to authorize the prescription. Providers also need reliable data on the patient's symptoms. They can't rely on the patient's memory or notes. Devices like smart blood pressure cuffs and ECG monitors can help but their data is often siloed within a device-specific ecosystem. This makes it difficult for the provider to get a holistic view of the patient's symptoms.
High financial and physical burden: Unfortunately, many patients let their adherence slip at some point. Not persisting on therapy can be attributed to a number of reasons, but therapy cost and patient’s perceived lack of therapy effectiveness are common factors. This can lead to poorer outcomes, emergency room visits and long-term complications, all of which adversely impact their quality of life. Both patients and payers end up spending a lot of money on these lifesaving visits, which could be avoided with the aid of digital tools that support adherence.

Difficult lifestyle adjustments: Patients living with cardiovascular disease are encouraged to eat a heart-healthy diet, get more exercise and reduce or abstain from alcohol and tobacco use.¹³ They also often juggle multiple medications, devices (like implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and pacemakers) and, in some cases, medical procedures and surgeries.¹⁴ All of these changes can be physically, mentally and emotionally taxing, and many patients find it difficult to adhere to their treatment plan.

11  https://world-heart-federation.org/wp-content/uploads/WHF-Digital-Health-in-Cardiology-Roadmap-Summary-Document.pdf
12  https://world-heart-federation.org/what-is-cvd/
13  https://world-heart-federation.org/what-is-cvd/
14  https://world-heart-federation.org/what-is-cvd/

Opportunities to improve patient care and outcomes

Given these challenges, digital companion apps have the potential to significantly improve the lives of patients and make treatment decisions easier for providers. The key is creating apps and other digital solutions that connect seamlessly and support the patient throughout the entire therapy journey. Opportunities for digital include:

New drug onboarding and dosing management: Adherence can be difficult for patients, especially when they are first starting a new treatment. Apps can help them keep track of their medications and provide reminders when it's time for each dose. And when patients move beyond a first-line therapy such as PCSK9 inhibitors, they’re required to conduct ongoing testing for drug authorization. Remote testing removes significant barriers to treatment.
Comprehensive symptom tracking: With the help of at-home and on-the-go heart monitoring technology and diagnostic testing, such as a mobile ECG or remote LDL testing, patients can easily track their symptoms, report changes as they arise and track their health progress to tie persistence to improved health. Capturing this real-world data can also allow providers to head off issues earlier, which reduces the chance of adverse events down the road.
HCP Interfaces: Clinician portals, EHR integration and patient dashboards can be used to enhance patient-provider communication during in-person visits. These portals can also be used to triage or flag patients who need to be more closely monitored.
Smart device integrations: Consumer devices—including smart watches, scales and blood pressure readings—empower the patient to take control of their treatment, as do provider-prescribed heart monitoring technology and smart pillboxes. Diagnostic integrations, such as remote diagnostic lab testing offered through BrightInsight Ecosystem Partner ixlayer, can make it easier than ever for the patient to stay on therapy.¹⁵

Holistic care: Cardiovascular disease can impact more than just the heart; many patients suffer from comorbidities, including mental illness. Nurse lines put vital information right at the patient's fingertips—medical advice is only a call away. Meanwhile, AI mental health integration can offer targeted support that helps alleviate symptoms, promote health equity and expand patient access, all while keeping costs low.¹⁶
Lifestyle modification coaching and rehabilitation: As we've already addressed, the lifestyle modifications associated with cardiovascular disease can be exceptionally difficult to manage, whether the patient is recovering from a heart attack or stroke, or simply at high risk for an episode down the line. It can be easier for patients to adhere to these adjustments with digital tools that provide guidance and hold the patient accountable. Some tools even gamify the process, which creates a feedback loop that encourages adherence. These digital solutions can serve as a virtual cardiac rehab exercise program, a wearable diet and exercise program and much more.

15 https://ixlayer.com
16 https://woebothealth.com

ixlayer helps drive patient engagement through lab testing by reducing the barriers between patients and the health tests they need. By working with BrightInsight, we’re able to offer a holistic solution that creates a feedback loop for patients through diagnostic testing, so they more clearly see the impact of the treatment and stay on therapy.

Pouria Sanae

CEO and Co-Founder of ixlayer,
a BrightInsight Ecosystem Partner and diagnostic testing platform

BrightInsight’s Digital Disease Management Solution

BrightInsight’s digital Disease Management Solution can drive value for biopharma’s cardiovascular therapies by increasing first-fill rate and improving persistence on therapy. Here are some key features of our Disease Management Solution that enable speed to value:

Configurable, flexible functionality

Applications that are configurable to meet your unique needs are core to accelerating speed-to-market. Ensure that your platform of choice supports:

Connected devices such as ECG monitors and Apple watches
Integration with at-home testing to confirm LDL levels for streamlined medication fulfillment
Custom clinical surveys to capture electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes (ePRO) and Quality of Life (QoL) tracking
Configurable notifications, reminders and alerts to prompt health interventions
Configurable care plans and educational resources to personalize the patient experience
Configurable user and administration controls and alerts to meet data privacy requirements
Robust clinician interfaces that integrate with the EHR

It’s also important to build on a platform that’s compliant with even the most highly regulated digital health SaMD classifications. This allows you to maintain compliance across geographies and over time, even as the product scales and evolves.

HEALTHCARE PROVIDER INTERFACES

Our Healthcare Provider Interfaces enable clinicians to see trend data directly within their EHR workflow to track how patients are responding to therapy and where any changes to the care plan may be needed.

Comprehensive, patient-centered tools

The BrightInsight Disease Management Solution empowers biopharma companies to create a suite of cardiovascular digital tools that can be configured and personalized for patients based on their specific clinical needs. This can be used to support one therapy or across multiple complementary drug therapies.

A patient app with tools that support patients throughout their disease management journey is a key differentiator. It can help patients recognize the impact of their actions through features like symptom tracking, patient-care team communication, coaching and integration with connected devices.

Other patient tools include automated medication and refill reminders and personalized drug dosing algorithms to drive adherence and persistence, personalized education tools designed to empower patients, and patient support integration to make it easier to qualify and pay for therapy and support with medication administration.

MEDICATION AND APPOINTMENT REMINDERS

The patient app automatically imports prescriptions directly from the EHR and medication reminders support treatment adherence. Connected devices, such as an integrated smart pill box, which captures each date, time and dose of therapy administration, can help patients manage their condition.

Patients can track the frequency of symptoms they are experiencing and the impact on daily living with tools like daily symptom logs and quality of life surveys.

A real-world data engine with actionable insights

The most powerful digital health solutions allow for the secure, compliant capture and use of patient- and population-level data. On an individual level, analytics dashboards with usage and usability metrics, combined with algorithm hosting, aid clinical decision-making, increasing patient adoption and engagement. On a broader level, data powers reimbursement management tools, demonstrating therapy value to payers and increasing therapy access.

ANALYTICS DASHBOARDS

Commercial and brand leaders leverage our Analytics Dashboards to harness unique data to drive product strategy and marketing tactics.

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Deliver better disease management with BrightInsight

Go with the proven partner that top biopharma companies trust for their biggest brands in their most important markets. When you team up with BrightInsight, you can accelerate time to market while future-proofing your disease management solutions for regulatory, security and privacy compliance.

By building their disease management solutions on top of the BrightInsight® Platform, top biopharma companies can address patient and provider pain points and unlock a better path to adherence and persistence across a wide range of therapy areas and treatments.

Unpacking challenges and opportunities

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