Premier Inc

Denise Juliano

Through this article, Denise Juliano, Group Vice President, Premier Applied Sciences, highlights the transformative power of real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) in life sciences. She explains how leveraging comprehensive datasets across the product lifecycle can accelerate innovation, strengthen regulatory submissions, and personalize patient care. Drawing on Premier’s deep research capabilities and expansive healthcare network, the article underscores the need for high-quality, actionable data to drive smarter decisions, reduce health disparities, and create lasting value for patients and providers.

Real-world evidence (RWE) is recognized as a significant driving force in healthcare today, playing a crucial role in assessing the safety and effectiveness of medical devices and drugs. However, meaningful RWE is impossible without real-world data (RWD), which provides a rich framework for understanding clinical environments and their impact on patient outcomes. RWD and RWE help life sciences companies understand the value of healthcare interventions in everyday practice.

In Premier’s experience, the healthcare industry faces increased data demands to demonstrate efficacy, safety and quality outcomes. To succeed in the race to value, life sciences companies, providers and payers must strategically utilize actionable data and advanced technology. Best-in-class data and insights help differentiate medical devices and drugs, ward off commoditization and enable personalized patient care.

RWD usage is rising, with 90 percent of global life sciences executives indicating plans for leveraging this data in decision making across a product's life cycle. Furthermore, one study found that 116 out of 378 FDA-approved New Drug Applications (NDA) or Biologics License Applications (BLA) incorporated RWD/RWE in the submission.

RWD and the insights it delivers have the potential to improve healthcare delivery and quality while ensuring medical innovations reach the right patients at the right time. RWD/RWE can help address the growing demand for data to demonstrate efficacy and safety, analyze market dynamics, inform device development, differentiate products, assess therapeutic interventions, complete Total Cost of Care (TCOC) assessments, support regulatory submissions and shorten the runway to commercialization.

While the value of RWD/RWE is widely recognized, life sciences companies, payers and providers have only begun to tap into its full potential. Many mix-andmatch datasets do not recognize potential longitudinal and actionable insights. This yields fewer relevant, timely takeaways that support research efforts, ensure regulatory compliance, and inform novel medical solutions. An expert partner can help unlock the full potential of RWD/RWE.

Despite the rapid increase in RWD/ RWE usage, questions remain about the most meaningful data type and how RWD/ RWE can inform the medical solution decision-making process or regulatory submissions. The answers are imperative for achieving business goals and improving patient outcomes worldwide. Life sciences companies need different data sources that, when united, can deliver accurate, actionable information. Robust, high-quality data fuels evidence-based and population- based analyses of drugs, devices, treatments, disease states, epidemiology, resource utilization, healthcare economics and clinical outcomes.

Premier Applied Sciences – the data and research division within Premier – focuses on differentiated data, groundbreaking research, and clinical trial innovation. These aims drive speed to value, delivering efficiencies, lowering costs, reducing health disparities and improving patient outcomes. With the industry's largest outpatient chargemaster database and deep expertise in drawing actionable conclusions from the data, Premier helps organizations solve tough challenges and open new doors for meaningful improvements in healthcare.

Premier delivers solutions to two-thirds of all healthcare providers in the U.S., connecting suppliers with providers for mutually beneficial healthcare partnerships. Advancements in RWD have forged an unprecedented opportunity to use RWE across nearly every segment of the healthcare ecosystem. Applications of RWD include outcomes research, market analysis, risk assessment, predictive modeling, comparative effectiveness, the burden of illness reports, health economics research, market trends, post-market surveillance, formulation of clinical care guidelines, clinical studies and trials, and regulatory submissions.

To stay ahead of today's challenges, life sciences companies must harness the power of comprehensive datasets and strategically apply the intelligence they deliver. Doing so will differentiate organizations in the market, position them for long-term growth and create optimal value for patients and communities.