ESPE Abstracts

Background: Aluetta^® Smartdot™ (Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) is a novel injection device for administering recombinant-human growth hormone (r-hGH), integrated with a smart knob attachment for data transmission that combines ease of use with advanced capabilities. Integration with Growzen™ digital ecosystem empowers healthcare professionals (HCPs) with remote monitoring of patient adherence, thereby promoting optimal clinical outcomes.

Aim: To explore current landscape of growth hormone (GH) deficiency care in Korea, analyse HCPs’ perception on the acceptance of health devices and technological evolution, identify factors impacting their intent-to-use and recommend digital solutions supporting r-hGH therapy.

Method: A 4-hour participatory workshop was conducted in Seoul, Korea on 2^nd November 2022 with fourteen HCPs (regardless of previous digital device usage experience). They were divided into two teams (each moderated by facilitator) based on professional expertise, age, and gender. HCPs engaged in discussion on GH administration, identified specific issues and shared their opinions on various predefined topics in contexts of both self-administration and caregiver-supported administration. Workshop progressed in 5 phases with introduction of project, participants, views on current context of digitalization, perceived usefulness and ease of use of Aluetta^® Smartdot™ device, perception of health technology evolution, and combined team recommendation. Experts analysed data collected via audio-recordings, completed predefined templates, and facilitators’ notes independently using thematic analysis and shared relevant findings validated with participants.

Results: HCPs perceived Aluetta^® Smartdot™ with Growzen™ ecosystem as easy to use/handle and adopt by users including children in Korea. HCPs highlighted functionality such as automatic, real-time data transmission, and sending notifications/reminders to patients were important factors; however, its usability can be improved with wireless charging, integrating alarms for missed injections, patient/caregiver training, and visual-case-presentation based feedback. Limited time for intensive consultation during practice with adherence data without proper reimbursement support and internet access restriction by parents could be potential barriers for use of technology. HCPs considered the use of this digital system could result in increased patient/caregiver satisfaction and medication self-management.

Conclusion: Participants considered Aluetta^® Smartdot™ with Growzen™ app as user-friendly, intuitive, and easy-to-use digital solution. Aluetta^® with Smartdot™ enables automatic real-time injection data transmission to support adherence monitoring and to understand the reasons of suboptimal response or adherence to GH therapy. Availability of unbiased, reliable, and accurate data transmitted by the device would be of benefit and helps generate new evidence-based knowledge to support GH treatment and strengthen patient-HCP relationships, empower patients throughout the treatment process.