Harnessing real-world evidence to reduce the burden of noncommunicable disease: health information technology and innovation to generate insights

Abstract

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity across the world and factors influencing global poverty and slowing economic development. We summarize how the potential power of real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) can be harnessed to help address the disease burden of NCDs at global, national, regional and local levels. RWE is essential to understand the epidemiology of NCDs, quantify NCD burdens, assist with the early detection of vulnerable populations at high risk of NCDs by identifying the most influential risk factors, and evaluate the effectiveness and cost-benefits of treatments, programs, and public policies for NCDs. To realize the potential power of RWD and RWE, challenges related to data integration, access, interoperability, standardization of analytical methods, quality control, security, privacy protection, and ethical standards for data use must be addressed. Finally, partnerships between academic centers, governments, pharmaceutical companies, and other stakeholders aimed at improving the utilization of RWE can have a substantial beneficial impact in preventing and managing NCDs.

New Strategies to Improve Patient Adherence to Medications for Noncommunicable Diseases During and After the COVID-19 Era Identified via a Literature Review

“…67 Real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) are becoming increasingly important in healthcare, across a broad range of different areas including regulatory submissions for medication label expansions and discussions around pricing and the budgetary impact of medications. [67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77] RWD and RWE have been utilized for many decades to evaluate the effects of poor adherence (or conversely the benefits of improving adherence) with medications used to manage NCDs. 33,[36][37][38]78 During 2020, RWD and RWE have been at the forefront of the efforts to address the healthcare challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…This, therefore, suggest RWD will continue to play a vital role in improving the management of NCDs. 74 Access to this information means that a customizable adherence dashboard can be created. This system allows queries regarding specific regions and individual medications to be addressed (Figure 5).…”

Digital Health Technologies Applied by the Pharmaceutical Industry to Improve Access to Noncommunicable Disease Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…These DHTs hold tremendous power to generate realworld data on the delivery of care, clinical outcomes, and epidemiology of NCDs, which can be harnessed to help address the disease burden of NCDs at global, national, regional, and local levels. 21 Moreover, companies implementing these DHTs may benefit from the generated intelligence to further develop their business in emerging markets, e.g., by identifying influential risk factors, unmet needs, and high-risk populations. The large amounts of data being collected from DHTs applied in pharmaceutical industry-led programs give pharmaceutical companies power over information, and public payers such as governments and citizens should consider to what extent this data may be used for commercial activities.…”

“…23 By ensuring secure ways of data sharing and transparency between pharmaceutical companies, governments, academic centers, and other stakeholders, real-world evidence collected through DHTs can yield greater impact in preventing and managing NCDs. 21 For client-focused DHTs, we found that pharmaceutical companies largely focus on delivering disease-specific communication and general awareness to patient populations. This trend is likely connected to the rapid increase in mobile phones, smartphones, Internet, and social media across LMICs, which provides an opportunity to digitally educate patients suffering from NCDs in an effective, efficient, and cost-saving way.…”

Guest Editorial: Articles selected from the 2020 International Conference on Health Policy Statistics

“…In their article, Zou et al (2021) describe how to harness the power of RWD and RWE to help address the global burden of noncommunicable diseases. They note that RWE is essential for understanding the epidemiology of noncommunicable diseases, assisting with the early detection, and evaluating the effectiveness and cost-benefits of treatments, programs, and public policies.…”