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Four steps to a RWD enterprise strategy

Lou Brooks, SVP, Real-World Data and Analytics at Optum

 

Consider an enterprise-wide approach

Life sciences organizations are turning increasingly to real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) to gain powerful insight that can help prepare for a future that includes more precision therapies and a continuing trend toward value-based financing arrangements.

But I sense some hesitancy in the market over how to make certain that this is an enterprise-wide approach, rather than one undertaken to address a specific need at a particular time. If you are stuck in this piecemeal approach, you may not be getting the most value for your efforts.

In this four-part podcast series, I explore how your organization can acquire the right data, tools and analytics for the long term. We also touch on how to generate the most value from your investments in data, technology and infrastructure to achieve a successful real-world data program.

Life sciences and health care organizations are increasingly turning to RWD derived from available patient information such as electronic health records (EHRs) or adjudicated medical and pharmacy claims. When combined with analytics that answer research questions, offer business insight or measure health outcomes, real-world data becomes real-world evidence.

However, leaders often overlook the best ways to acquire data or choose the right tools to analyze it. When companies underestimate the importance of these and other factors, they fail to leverage their findings successfully. Instead of employing the data to its fullest extent, some businesses merely skim the surface of the insights they can derive from RWD.

Optimizing data strategies

Investing in talent and infrastructure is just as important a commitment as your data investments. To optimize company-wide RWD efforts, you must:

  • Develop a clear plan. Without a roadmap, many data-driven organizations build disjointed and inefficient systems. This lack of planning wastes time and money that you could use elsewhere.
  • Provide centralized access across the organization. Companies that silo data limit their potential. Giving access to more employees provides new and useful insights to teams that might have otherwise missed out.
  • Employ the right people and give them the appropriate tools to derive insights. Data that sits on a server can't bring value to an organization. You need experts who can mine, analyze and turn that information into useful insights. Bringing varying perspectives and experience into a project will enrich the outcome.
  • Build a network of internal and external partners who specialize in real-world data. When your needs for data shift, you will be positioned to move nimbly. Having a supportive network at the ready helps maximize your time.
  • Build a network of internal and external partners who specialize in real-world data. When your needs for data shift, you will be positioned to move nimbly. Having a supportive network at the ready helps maximize your time.

As the data landscape continues to evolve in health care, analyzing RWD and RWE will only become more critical. It will be instrumental in how we evaluate emerging precision therapies, address lingering questions about value, improve clinical trials and expand access to more patients, as well as ensure that drugs in the market are still safe.

When you listen to these episodes, you may find the challenges and scenarios sound familiar to you. If so, my colleagues at Optum Life Sciences are ready to help you put evidence into action.

Lou Brooks

Lou Brooks

SVP, Real-World Data and Analytics at Optum

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