Fostering advancements in research, patient care and outcomes

Patients

Patients are the lifeblood of real-world data and its main beneficiaries.

Data are primarily used for patient care: the data that doctors manage in the electronic health records relate to symptoms, diagnoses and treatments. They are anonymized at source on the doctor’s computer using an irreversible process.

Data are also used for research, with the patient’s prior knowledge. They are used in studies about chronic diseases (arterial hypertension, diabetes, asthma, etc.), infections (flu, Covid, etc.), cancer, and more.

Healthcare professionals

Healthcare professionals input the data into the electronic medical record when patients consult them and when they prescribe treatment.

They play a key role in compiling the real-world database and in the quality of its content.

The electronic health records’ coded and structured data feed algorithms, just like an interoperable information system, which in turn serve as a secure decision-making support tool for the health professional. This helps decision-making and therefore improves patient outcomes.

Pharma industry and academic research

Research of both an academic and more corporate/commercial nature underpins the ability of the wider healthcare sector to develop medicines, treatments and care pathways for better population health.

Unlike billing data, THIN® real-world data reflects the medical intention and value in use, thus contributing evidence throughout the health product’s life cycle, from phase II clinical trials to market access, marketing and sales.

THIN® data are robust because they are voluntarily supplied by a network of doctors who are mostly private practitioners and therefore enable access to as many patients as possible and all diseases.

Health Authorities

Health authorities can use THIN® real-world data to supplement and/or confirm the results of clinical trials, by applying them to a wider population sample than the one used in the clinical trials. These data are also used to monitor the efficacy and safety of medicines post-launch.

At a European level, the EMA (European Medicines Agency) uses THIN® data to conduct various real-world evidence studies. THIN® is also an approved supplier of the ENCePP (European Network of Centres for Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance) and listed in its database catalogue.

Payers

Real-world data can be used to measure the cost of different diseases by including all the expenses associated with them. They are also used to measure the economic burden of diseases, or even the economic and therapeutic value of medicines through cost-effectiveness analyses. They inform negotiations about medicine prices and reimbursement rates.