01 Feb Aegis Sciences Launches First-of-Its Kind Cardiovascular Medication Adherence Tool to Help Physicians Manage Patients with Uncontrolled Hypertension
KardiAssure provides doctors with clinical insight to improve patient outcomes and address non-adherence of more than 50 cardiovascular medications
Nashville, Tenn. (Feb. 1, 2018) – Aegis Sciences Corporation, a leading healthcare company that provides clinically innovative testing and consulting services to providers, today launched KardiAssureTM, a first-of-its-kind urinalysis that helps healthcare providers monitor cardiovascular medication adherence in their patients. Test results will inform physicians whether patients with chronic, uncontrolled hypertension are taking medications as prescribed – ultimately improving health outcomes by giving doctors more data to support adjusting treatment plans and additional insight for discussing the importance of taking prescribed therapies.
“We’re bringing KardiAssure to the market at a critical time for healthcare providers,” said Dr. Frank Basile, CEO of Aegis Sciences. “In Heart Month and on the heels of the American Heart Association’s new guidelines for high blood pressure that considers more Americans at risk for cardiovascular disease than ever before, KardiAssure is an important tool that physicians can use to engage patients more meaningfully. It’s a substantial leap forward from the subjective and inexact methods currently used for surveying medication adherence.”
KardiAssure is a non-invasive and cost-effective urinalysis that provides physicians with clear, reliable, actionable information on patients’ adherence to more than 50 cardiovascular medications. The test can be administered in conjunction with regularly scheduled appointments, and once the urine sample is collected, it is sent to Aegis’s clinical laboratory where laboratory scientists test for cardiovascular medications such as atorvastatin, metoprolol, valsartan or benazepril. The results are ready within 96 hours, and clinical pharmacists are available to interpret results and answer questions.
“The insight KardiAssure provides helps facilitate dialogue between physicians and patients to improve outcomes,” said Dr. Bryan Doherty, Cardiologist at Dickson Medical Associates and Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. “Hypertension affects nearly half of all adults in the U.S., and 50 percent of patients don’t take medications as prescribed by their physicians. If we can know when a hypertensive patient is not taking medications, we can then have the ‘why’ conversation. Or if we find patients are taking their medication but their blood pressure is not responding accordingly, we can explore different therapies to improve outcomes.”
A team of researchers recently studied the effectiveness of using urinalysis to identify non-adherent hypertensive patients. The team concluded that properly identifying the patients who struggled to regularly take medications led to greater adherence and a drop in their blood pressure. In this study, 80 percent of initially non-adherent patients who underwent routine urinalysis improved their adherence to antihypertensive medications and became closer to their target blood pressure goals. The study was published by Dr. Pankaj Gupta in a recent issue of Hypertension.
“High blood pressure can cause life-threatening complications including heart attack or stroke,” added Senator Bill Frist MD, Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, renowned cardiac transplant surgeon and Aegis Board of Directors Member. “Studies have shown that adherence to therapy can reduce risk of all-cause mortality by up to 60 percent. In addition to making lifestyle changes to diet and exercise, taking medication regularly and as prescribed is key for successfully controlling hypertension.”
KardiAssure arms physicians with the information they need to better control and treat chronic, uncontrolled hypertension.
About Aegis Sciences Corporation
Founded in 1990, Aegis Sciences Corporation is a laboratory sciences company based in Nashville, Tenn., that provides science-driven testing and consulting services for clients such as healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, professional and amateur sports organizations, leading college and university athletic programs, Fortune 500 corporations, and government agencies throughout the United States. For more information please visit https://www.aegislabs.com/.
*As of June 2024, we have transitioned KardiAssure to an oral fluid-based test called MedProtectCDM which includes several additional medication classes and disease states.
