The Hailie Solution, a deeper look at clinical studies
Adherium is a company that focuses on improving maintenance inhaler adherence as well as reduce rescue inhaler use. Their product which they call The Hailie Solution, is their solution to adherence. The Hailie Solution is made up of a sensor that can be placed on inhalers of a variety of types such as Ventolin, Symbicort, ProAir, and Flovent. The sensor is then linked via bluetooth to a smart phone like an iPhone or an Android as an app. This combination of a sensor and app allows patients and prescribers the ability to track their inhaler use. The sensor also provides visual and auditory alerts to remind the patient to take their dose of medication.
There have been a variety of clinical trials done regarding The Hailie Solution. One particular study done was on asthma control as the primary outcome. In the study there were two main groups, the personalized adherence discussions group, or the PAD, and the inhaler reminders plus adherence feedback group, or IRF. There was also a combination group consisting of both PAD and IRF groups and another group that underwent neither PAD or IRF. All groups however, underwent active usual care, or UC.
The UC includes the provision of a written asthma action plan, inhaler technique review/education, and a follow-up appointment. The PAD group completed a short questionnaire about barriers to controller inhaler use and general practitioners from the study, or GPs, set goals and goal-achievement strategies with patients from this group. The IRF group received twice-daily SmartTrack reminders for missed inhaler doses. GPs received an automated e-mail to view a website graph of their patients’ daily inhaler use, which they were to discuss with the patient at the study follow-up visit or at any subsequent appointments.
The primary outcome was measured by the asthma control test, or the ACT, which are a series of questions that can assess a patient’s level of asthma control based on symptoms experienced. Lower scores mean poor asthma control while higher scores mean good asthma control. Adherence was also recorded for all groups as well. The secondary outcome was severe exacerbation.
The results showed that the ACT scores between each of the groups was actually very similar. The PAD group scored 18, and the IRF group scored 19.9. These values were insignificant compared to each other, however compared to their baseline values of 14.6 for the PAD group and 15.1 for the IRF group, these results showed that each group had similar improvements for regarding their symptoms. The adherence levels were significantly different, with the PAD group having an average of 46% while the IRF group had an average of 71% adherence. Adherence levels dropped for all groups over 6 months, but the IRF group adherence level remained roughly double of the PAD group at 60%, compared with the PAD group’s 29%. Finally the outcomes showed that 11% of the IRF group experienced severe exacerbation compared to the 28% which the PAD group experienced.
From this study many things can be concluded, and it is intriguing on many points. The ACT scores remained the similar among each group even tho the adherence rates were vastly and significantly different. One can conclude that regardless of having reminders such as The Hailie Solution which was represented by the IRF group, the asthma control is similarly controlled as having a discussion with your practitioner. However, the truth remains that the IRF group did experience less asthma exacerbation than that of the PAD group. This point alone is the purpose of what Adherium wants to target.
According to the study done, Adherium understands that the adherence rates that were nearly double in the IRF group compared to the PAD group may be responsible for reducing severe exacerbation. They wish to continue having high adherence rates with The Hailie Solution so that their patients don’t experience the severe exacerbation of an asthma attack. The Hailie Solution was created cut down on relying on rescue inhalers and to rely on the preventative methods that maintenance inhalers use by relying on adherence. For more information please visit the link below.
Citation
Foster, J. M. (2014). Inhaler reminders improve adherence with controller treatment in primary care patients with asthma. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 134(6). Retrieved from https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(14)00802-1/fulltext#tbl3