3 Ways I Believe Real-World Data Can Support Advanced Therapies

How many times have clinicians thought, “if intervention had happened earlier, we could have prevented serious complications.” Probably more often than we can count.

Most healthcare and life sciences organizations spend much of their time aiming to prevent illness, disease or other serious health concerns, improve patient outcomes and reduce overall costs.

Recently, I participated in a Gi Health Foundation (GIHF) Managed Care Coalition advisory committee meeting at the 2022 Gi ReConnect Conference. The GIHF Managed Care Coalition came together to review the impact of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on health systems and discuss potential solutions for improving outcomes and increasing overall cost effectiveness for payers.

As I listened to the various lectures, I noticed they each had a recurring theme -- outcomes are better if patients are treated with advanced therapies earlier than what most studies suggest. Various studies analyzing insurance claim data have shown earlier treatment can reduce IBD complications and comorbidities, thus reducing the total cost of care for IBD patients.

Yet, despite these IBD studies, clinicians are still not prescribing advanced therapies early in the disease process. This likely stems from lack of data collected from real-world practice that affirms therapy efficacy and improved outcomes rather than billing and claims data alone.

Clinicians attending the event noted that IBD outcomes are improving because of advancements in therapies, management goals and better evidence. With newer advanced therapies, patients have the potential to achieve more stable disease control and deeper levels of remission, such as mucosal healing.

Here are three reasons why I believe RWD can help increase the utilization of advanced therapies earlier in a disease diagnosis.

1.????Prove therapy effectiveness –– Utilizing RWD to generate real-world evidence (RWE) helps bind clinical development with the realities of healthcare ranging from comorbidities to complexities. Payers, regulatory bodies and health systems are increasingly demanding proof of advanced therapy effectiveness and that it delivers real value as a medical solution by doing what it is intended to do.

2.????Prove outcome improvements ––?RWD from real-world patient scenarios can affirm improved outcomes and reductions in complications and comorbidities are a result of advanced therapies.

3.????Reduce costs –– Early detection and intervention with advanced therapies in earlier stages of disease can potentially reduce the risk for complications, additional therapies, disease-related surgeries, emergency room (ER) visits and hospitalizations, thus reducing overall healthcare costs for life sciences organizations, payers, health systems and, most of all, patients. ?

These days, RWD/RWE is shifting how life sciences companies and healthcare systems develop and administer therapies and identify opportunities for repurposing existing therapies. These datasets collected from real-world practice provide the information needed to better understand the efficacy, safety and cost while supporting regulatory requirements.

PINC AI? Applied Sciences services support life sciences and healthcare organizations by designing and conducting RWD studies in combination with artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate the RWE that proves an advanced therapy’s effectiveness and validates improved patient outcomes.

If you’re interested in learning more about RWD or conducting a RWD study, contact me directly.

Author: Myla Maloney , MBA, BCMAS