Curating data assets for real-time insights

The role of data in the commercial process and the ability to garner actionable insights have become more important than ever in the last several years. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated uncertainty in the market, creating a greater need for advanced analytics to optimize commercial planning. At the same time, new technology is enabling data integration at scale, digital transformation is accelerating, and there is an ever-evolving pool of data sources to leverage. With the explosion of data and increasing movement toward digitalization, the competitive landscape is beginning to change and the pressure for innovation and differentiation in an industry with short product lifespans is intensifying.

Industry leaders are looking for the "right" data to maximize new insights and drive decision making. As a result, data integration and analytics have emerged even more clearly as key pillars underlying commercial focus, execution, and ultimately success.

All of these factors come together to create a pressing need for companies to create a holistic view of data. An integrated data ecosystem, or commercial data hub, that is managed as an investment, rather than a cost center, can drive faster analytics which can allow for a more meaningful allocation of resources, patient-centric innovation, and faster access to the right channels and points of care.

Commercial data hubs enable real-time data sharing by connecting data producers with data consumers. Master data management (MDM) applications create a single master record for all critical business data across internal and external sources and applications. Together, these technologies can help companies better leverage data and offer granular, timely insights into performance. Together, this will ultimately help them identify shifting market trends and recover more quickly when something has an impact on the way they do business.

Available and emerging data sources

Traditionally, MedTech companies have relied on their own sales data or expensive custom primary market research. With the convergence of patients becoming more interested in managing and generating their own health data, digitalization, and remote care models, the data influx can be overwhelming and creates challenges during the curation of patient and commercial data to drive the right business decisions at the right time. This makes finding the right partner with data warehouse and connectivity experience as well as access to high quality data sources a must.

Among commercial data, reference data are an important starting point in data analysis because they provide insights into who makes buying decisions for a customer. Opportunities to leverage reference data and combine them with other data sources have increased in the last few years, particularly in the U.S.

Reference data include:

Basic information about healthcare organizations, such as hospitals, clinics, and surgery centers
Basic information about healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators
Affiliations, linking physicians to hospitals and hospitals to health systems
Other customer metrics, such as the number of hospital beds, patient treatment days, robotics, or surgery suites

Another rich source of data comes from medical claims without personally identifiable information. They allow MedTech companies to analyze individual procedure and diagnosis dynamics at a facility and practitioner level for any billable patient visit. Medical claims data also allow the user to understand market direction such as shifts in site of care, changes to Medicare coverage, and facilitates forecasting as well as the analysis of patient demographics.

Individually, each data source provides great value; however, when properly connected, the tactical insights become even more meaningful.

The power of bringing data assets together

MedTech companies that are at the forefront of leveraging data to drive commercial performance combine reference data, claims data, and their own sales tracing information in a commercial data hub and an MDM platform with standardized data.

This three-dimensional view of the customer allows manufacturers to:

Create an internal, holistic data ecosystem to derive actionable insights through analytics
Quantify their share of business with a given customer
Identify unmet patient/provider needs
Identify potential patients faster
Improve supply chain and inventory management
Reallocate valuable resources from manual analytic tasks to focusing on driving meaningful, patient-focused innovation

With the right applications, the commercial data hub can become a platform that enables and supports the organization with big data and analytics to drive customer engagement and operational efficiency. Most organizations struggle with the attempt to leverage the value of their customer data when they are not connected. Integrated in an intelligent data ecosystem, data can provide proof points on how markets should be segmented and afford opportunities to develop messaging for unique customer groups that can be the basis of a multichannel marketing program.

Gain access to the right data at the right time

Dissemination of information is critical to coordinating activities across commercial functions and can make or break an organization's ability to execute or react effectively. With better data management, MedTech companies can get quality, granular, and timely information, ensuring teams have the information they need to perform. It also enables measurement across the commercial spectrum.

IQVIA supports customers by providing a single integrated platform to enable both operational and analytical applications. With a commercial data hub and MDM, independent commercial functions no longer operate in silos; data mastery fuels engagement approaches for a competitive edge. IQVIA helps to compile and gain actionable information from the best data available so MedTech companies can create an ecosystem of custom-built insights that puts them ahead in today's market. It allows them to focus their own resources on what is most important to them, improving patient care through innovation.