We
look up to the Pharma industry as it works towards improving the quality of
patient’s life with its innovative therapies and make them live longer and
healthier. In the time of the global pandemic, pharma companies have resorted
to massive clinical research and development to
produce an effective vaccine against the deadly coronavirus. They have been
under tremendous pressure to develop an effective vaccine in a short span of
time. This makes one wonder how evolved are the Pharma companies to deal with
every changing healthcare scenario.
Many
of the Pharma companies have replaced traditional ways of managing the
manufacturing floor and their day-to-day operations. But are they fully
equipped for the betterment of their stakeholders and healthcare system? The
government, doctors, insurance companies, and patients are the stakeholders of
pharma companies. They are knowledgeable and have access to data about
healthcare and expect the best from the pharma companies. Few examples can be
cited – Doctors expect new products to exceed their performance as compared to
existing products. Patients want their opinions to be heard during the
developmental stage of new medicine.
Insurance
companies want cost-effective products. Regulators have specific guidelines
that the pharma companies need to adhere to. So how do pharma companies
undergo the pricing and performance pressures and yet be able to deliver
quality, cost-effective products?
Data
Sources
The
first and foremost requirement for any change is information or data.
Currently, they have a huge amount of data from various sources. The main
sources of data are:
·
Research
projects
·
Clinical
trials
·
Post-marketing
studies
·
Electronic
health records of patients
·
Insurance
companies
For
pharma companies to evolve data integration and its rightful application is the
key to success. They need to do away with the traditional approach and embrace
the new business model of how to use the available data to improve the
healthcare system.
The
importance of Data Integration and its Application
The
data available is vast and is mostly in an unstructured format. These data need
to be analyzed, compiled, and interpreted in a manner to provide actionable
information. Data integration needs to maintain data governance standards, data
quality, and security. Once the integration is done correctly, pharma companies
can use different data sets multiple times to analyze different goals. Data
integration can be performed using algorithms powered by Artificial intelligence and Machine learning.
Data integration is essential from a
business perspective for pharma companies. The data obtained from patient
records can be used to produce cost-effective medicines. The real-time
information available can be used to optimize clinical trials. They can also
enhance manufacturing efficiencies and provide new formulations easily. The
data can be used to create targeted marketing messages for patients. All these
give a competitive advantage to the pharma companies.
Data
integration is beneficial for all stakeholders as well. Electronic Health
records data can be used to enhance patient care. The EHR data can identify new
indications for the existing products. Doctors can make calculated decisions
and check the viability of new formulations. Insurance companies get
cost-effective products. Well analyzed data when efficiently used can identify
disease mechanisms and build prognostic models. This accelerates the drug
formulation process and ideates preventive approaches.
Challenges
of Data Integration
Data
integration and its application is a major step towards progress for pharma
companies in today’s time. However, it is challenging for them. The humongous
quantity of data needs an excellent data integration and management platform.
The company also needs trained staff to handle high-quality data. Presently
most of the data management is done manually by inexperienced staff. The
complexity of data integration as well as the security risks are huge when data
is collected from various stakeholders.
Conclusion
The
pharma companies know the importance of data integration and how it can help
them to create a robust healthcare system. Though presently it is marred with a
few challenges, with technological collaborations pharma companies will be able
to adapt to the new business model. Pharma companies are investing in Real World Evidences (RWE) and new technologies
to increase workflow efficiencies. With the pharma companies taking a plunge
into data integration and adapting digital innovations, the future seems to be
promising not just for the pharma companies but also for all the stakeholders
of the healthcare system.
Pharma
companies and companies dealing with Life Sciences and Biotech have huge
data collated from various sources. The biggest challenge is the integration of
data. The data is extremely valuable and many companies are yet unable to
capitalize on the same due to the lack of a good platform for data
restructuring and integration. Aventior offers Data Restructuring and Informatics
Platform (DRIP) solution to such companies for data
management. Aventior’s DRIP uses proprietary
algorithms with machine learning to transform structured and unstructured data
into a usable format. To know more about our DRIP solutions and other services,
write to us at info@aventior.com.