Astellas Announces Desert Oasis Healthcare as First Health System to Implement DIGITIVA™ for Heart Failure Management

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas Pharma U.S., Inc. (President: Mike Petroutsas, "Astellas") today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Desert Oasis Healthcare (DOHC), a member of Heritage Provider Network, to pilot DIGITIVA™, a non-invasive digital health solution for the management of heart failure patients. In the next few weeks, eligible patients receiving care with DOHC will begin using DIGITIVA as a new method for managing their heart health while working in partnership with their healthcare team.

DIGITIVA was designed with the goal of improving heart failure management by providing patients with the CORE 500™ Digital Stethoscope developed by Eko Health Inc. and an easy-to-use smartphone app built on the Welldoc, Inc. platform, with AI-driven personalized digital coaching, as well as educational resources from the American Heart Association. Clinicians also receive tailored patient reports assessed by a clinical review team, highlighting relevant cardioacoustic biomarkers, such as S3 sounds and EMAT (electromechanical activation time), as well as physiological parameters with the goal of enabling earlier intervention when needed.

The partnership will also gather data to evaluate the effectiveness of DIGITIVA based on key clinical measures and cost of care metrics relevant to patients, healthcare providers and the overall health care system. In addition, patients will complete the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), which assesses their perception of heart failure symptoms, quality of life and how it impacts their physical and social function periodically throughout the partnership. 

Brian Hodgkins, Pharm.D., Executive Vice President of Clinical Operations and the Heritage Provider Network ACO, Desert Oasis Healthcare
"DIGITIVA exemplifies Desert Oasis Healthcare's commitment to exploring innovative health technologies with the potential to better the lives of both patients and providers. Placing patients at the center of their care, DIGITIVA provides enhanced heart health data tracking, automated feedback and educational resources from home, while equipping clinicians with patient-specific data potentially signaling when earlier intervention could be beneficial. Desert Oasis Healthcare is proud to be the first health system in the country to provide patients and cardiology providers with access to DIGITIVA and look forward to better understanding its potential impact."

Patrick Keenan, DIGITIVA Program Lead, Rx+ Business Accelerator, Astellas
"Implementing DIGITIVA in a real-world setting represents a significant achievement as the first SaMD and medical device offering from Astellas in the United States. Working closely with Desert Oasis Healthcare, we look forward to demonstrating the potential of DIGITIVA to improve patient outcomes by supporting patients' ability to take a more active role in managing their health, as well as providing clinicians with personalized information that can inform important clinical decisions."

DIGITIVA was listed with the FDA in September 2024. For additional information, please see the DIGITIVA™ Instructions for Use here¹ and the CORE 500™ Digital Stethoscope Instructions for Use here².

About Astellas
Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are promoting the Focus Area Approach that is designed to identify opportunities for the continuous creation of new drugs to address diseases with high unmet medical needs by focusing on Biology and Modality. Furthermore, we are also looking beyond our foundational Rx focus to create Rx+^® healthcare solutions that combine our expertise and knowledge with cutting-edge technology in different fields of external partners. Through these efforts, Astellas stands on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into VALUE for patients. For more information, please visit our website at https://www.astellas.com/en.

About Desert Oasis Healthcare
Formed in 1981 as one of the first medical groups in the desert communities of southern California, Desert Oasis Healthcare (DOHC) continues to advance with changes in the healthcare market. DOHC provides primary and immediate care, home health, palliative care, clinical research studies and other services to more than 60,000 members/patients living in the greater Coachella Valley and the Morongo Basin of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The multidisciplinary and comprehensive care programs of DOHC are committed to educating individuals on preventive health care in their daily lives, reflected in the DOHC motto, "Your Health. Your Life. Our Passion." For more information, visit www.mydohc.com. 

Cautionary Notes
In this press release, statements made with respect to current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future performance of Astellas. These statements are based on management's current assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i) changes in general economic conditions and in laws and regulations, relating to pharmaceutical markets, (ii) currency exchange rate fluctuations, (iii) delays in new product launches, (iv) the inability of Astellas to market existing and new products effectively, (v) the inability of Astellas to continue to effectively research and develop products accepted by customers in highly competitive markets, and (vi) infringements of Astellas' intellectual property rights by third parties.

Information about pharmaceutical products (including products currently in development) which is included in this press release is not intended to constitute an advertisement or medical advice.

References:

¹ DIGITIVA™ Instructions for Use: https://www.astellas.com/en/system/files/1539a14805/digitiva_instructions_for_use.pdf
² CORE 500™ Digital Stethoscope Instructions for Use: https://ekohealth.com/ifu

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SOURCE Astellas Pharma Inc.