Category Archives: Real World Evidence

Real World Evidence

Case study on the voice of the patient for the Pharma industry

Pharmaceutical companies are extending their Voice of the Patient projects to include social media: comments on web forums, surveys, Twitter, and more.

The goal of the proof of concept ordered by one particular pharmaceutical company in Spain was to: ” Collect and analyze the voice of the patient, both quantitatively and qualitatively, from the channels where it is expressed”, including social networks like web forums, Facebook, Twitter, and other systems.

For the pharma industry, it is essential to listen and understand the feedback that their current and potential customers communicate through various means and touchpoints.

Web forums, for instance, gather millions of posts, and function as a meeting point for patients where support, experiences, and wisdom are shared with peers, family members, and friends.

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Pharmacovigilance: Monitoring the Voice of the Patient

Pharmacovigilance: Voice of the Patient

For the pharmaceutical industry, it is essential to listen and understand the feedback that their current and potential patients communicate through all sorts of channels and touchpoints.

Although there is a protocol that requires any identified Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) to be disclosed to the authorities, only 5–20% of them are reported. Fortunately, discussions regarding drugs, symptoms, conditions, and diseases can be analyzed to learn more about said branches of pharmaceutics. Artificial Intelligence significantly contributes in monitoring adverse episodes and understanding their impact in every phase of development.

Patient narratives of medicines and their adverse effects on social media represent an extra data source for drug safety monitoring.

At MeaningCloud, we have developed a platform to automate the process of monitoring ADRs on social media.

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Listening to the Voice of the Patient

Voice of the Patient and Patient-Centered Health Care

National Library of Medicine

The modern definition of “patient centered health care” was stated in the National Library of Medicine’s MED-LINE subject heading (MeSH), introduced in 1995, which reads, “Design of patient care wherein institutional resources and personnel are organized around patients rather than around specialized departments.”

Following this design criterion, patients’ safety and well-being are the priority for all the agents involved in this industry: caregivers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, health insurers, and government agencies. And, being the center of our health systems, listening and engaging patients becomes the cornerstone of any quality improvement initiative. That’s why the so called “Voice of the Patient” is getting an increasing attention by all the stakeholders involved.

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Real World Evidence Definition

Real World Evidence Definition

Real World Evidence is information on health care that is derived from multiple sources outside typical clinical research settings, including electronic health records (EHRs), claims and billing data, product and disease registries, and data gathered through personal devices and health applications.

The most quoted definition of Real World Data comes from the area of pharmacoeconomics. The ISPOR (International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research) defines Real World Data as:

“Data used for decision making that are not collected in conventional randomized controlled trials (RCTs)”

Other definitions of Real World Data, Real World Evidence and Evidence from Clinical Experience can be found in the following figure, taken from a working paper of the Margolis Center for Health Policy, Duke University (see References below).

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MeaningCloud Sponsors the Real World Evidence Forum 2017

Real World Evidence Forum

Real-World Evidence Forum

Real-World Evidence Forum Philadelphia, July 17-18

At MeaningCloud, we are proud to sponsor the Real World Evidence Forum. The RWE Forum, taking place on July 17-18, 2017 in Philadelphia, will bring together clinical health professionals to address:

  • How to operationalize the process of collecting real-world data.
  • How to utilize real-world evidence to demonstrate both the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of drugs.

Attendees will gain a better understanding of how electronic data sources are changing the way real-world data is being collected. This conference will offer attendees insight into how real-world evidence will help decrease costs, define innovative outcomes and minimize the number of patients exposed to potentially harmful medications.

Text Analytics and Real World Evidence

MeaningCloud, as a Text Analytics provider, has evolved a highly specialized offering for the Health and Pharma industries. We count among our clients some the largest companies in the Pharmaceutical industry.

Join us in Philadelphia. If you are interested in attending the Real World Evidence Forum next July 17-18, just drop us a line to info@meaningcloud.com. We have a surprise for you!

Stay tuned to access our presentation at the conference, that we will publish on this blog. In the meanwhile, if you are curious about how our technology works in the health area, just take a look at our Text Analytics Health Demo.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Real-World Evidence Forum!

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What is Real World Evidence and why does it matter?

Real World Evidence. Blurred image of a hospital

Real World Evidence (AKA “Real World Data”) is a worldwide trend in Health and Life Sciences. New kinds of data, such as electronic health records and data mining tools are now available and allow us to extract information and knowledge. We can detect medical treatment costs, treatment efficiency (cost, benefits, and risks), references to drugs, side effects, or long-term results.  Text analytics is an essential component of this area of knowledge.

Austerity measures and related price cuts have put unprecedented pressure on the pharmaceutical industry. Manufacturers are being asked to provide information related not only to safety, appropriate use, and effectiveness but also to clinical and economic value. Although randomized clinical trials (RCTs) remain the gold standard of clinical tests, factors such as varying responses to a drug in real life, not completing the course of prescriptions, or using unauthorized medication before or during the trial limit the generalizability of results from randomized clinical trials.
Real World Evidence (also called “Real World Data”)  has been fueled by new data technologies that leverage the valuable information contained in electronic medical records and personal information repositories. This post is a review of those Real World Evidence sources and of the benefits that Pharmaceutical and Life Science companies can derive from them.

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