Nashville-based Aegis Sciences Corporation recently 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 with the goal of improving health outcomes by giving doctors more data to support adjusting treatment plans and additional insight for discussing the importance of taking prescribed therapies.
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.
A team of researchers published findings in Hypertension last year from a study that looked at 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.
