A Novel Disease Management Platform Delivered Via Smartphone Application for the Management of Patients With Heart Failure: Pilot Study

Heart failure (HF) management and readmissions remain at the top of the list of complex topics in cardiovascular medicine in the United States. Current system-wide programs to curb HF-related hospital readmissions have shown inconsistent results. However, outpatient transitional care supportive programs have been linked to improved HF-related outcomes, including reduced hospital readmissions, in small studies. Small studies also indicate that remote transfer of non-invasive data through telemonitoring (e.g., blood pressure and weight) and structured telephone support may reduce hospital readmissions in a cost-effective manner. The present pandemic has placed significant strains on the link between clinicians and patients highlighting the need for rapid innovation for virtual care.

This study involves the AMAZE™ DMP, developed by AstraZeneca, to provide a unified experience for the management of HF patients throughout their patient care journey. The platform will integrate multiple systems, including a smartphone-based application where patients can enter daily mood, symptoms, weight measures, and vital signs such as blood pressure (BP) and medication adherence. This input will feed directly to a clinician facing dashboard embedded within the electronic medical record that will allow the clinical care team to access real-time views of patients' states both in and out of clinic.

Patients will be identified via an automated electronic medical record (EMR)-based, computer-based algorithm and eligibility will be manually verified. Participants will be enrolled in the study following an inpatient HF admission at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Clinical providers and study staff will be able to view and monitor the subjects' AMAZE™ smartphone application entries within the electronic medical record via the AMAZE™ provider dashboard. The AMAZE™ secure messaging function will be used for study and clinical communications between the patient, study staff and clinical care team to facilitate outpatient HF management. The AMAZE™ smartphone application (app) will indirectly assess the patient's quality of life (Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire - KCCQ), as well as patient satisfaction with the app (mHealth App Usability Questionnaire - MAUQ). For clinicians, the MAUQ will measure provider satisfaction with the AMAZE™ dashboard.

Baseline demographics and study outcomes will be assessed via direct patient survey by study staff at pre-specified time points (enrollment, 30-days post enrollment, 60-days post enrollment). Outcomes will include medication changes, hospitalizations, emergency department presentations, urgent care visits, primary care or cardiology office visits and cardiac rehabilitation enrollment. Medical history, including labs, procedures, and diagnoses will be collected from the electronic medical record and recorded in REDCap. The AMAZE™ app will track medication adherence, daily symptom(s) log, blood pressure, weight, heart rate and activity when entered by participants into a daily log. Participants will be asked and encouraged to enter information into the smartphone-based app daily by study staff.