At a time when access to information is everything, being able to access and interpret the data extracted from 157 million medical historians in a single instant is invaluable to a medical professional who has no time to lose. What looks like a dream is the star product of Cegedim health data, provider of Real World Data y Real word tests worldwide. Your database The health improvement network (THIN), already includes Spain, which provides 2.9 million patients, 300 health institutions and more than 4,400 primary care physicians and specialists.
A major advantage of this model is the ability to conduct comparable studies in several countries
We spoke with Gilles Paubert, global head of Cegedim Health Data, and António Valente, head of Cegedim Health Data Spain, about this release.
Question.- What does the arrival of this new version of your database mean for the Spanish healthcare sector?
Gilles Paubert. The launch of THIN (The Health Improvement Network) in Spain is the result of two years of investment by Cegedim Health Data, the Cegedim division that manages Real-word data (RWD) and real-world testing (RWE) initiatives. ), in Spain, where we have been present for more than 15 years as a provider of software solutions. This database provides healthcare professionals with a reliable and accessible RWD that can contribute to the discovery of scientific knowledge as well as the improvement of general public health.
António Valente.– We provide our clients and partners with access to complete and anonymous longitudinal data sets at the patient level, in a data model common to several European countries (France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Romania and now Spain). This way, our clients and partners can use the data for R&D, Medical Affairs, Maket Access and HEOR projects.
P.- What kind of information does it provide?
GP- We provide various dimensions of anonymous data, including patient characteristics such as diagnoses, prescriptions, medical history, medical interventions, analytical, and clinical outcomes, such as laboratory test results, and so on.
P.- How is this information collected?
Doctor – The information is collected through the electronic health records of the health service providers with whom we sign agreements in Spain.
AV – This information is then deeply validated, compiled and harmonized into a single common European data model, ready for use in Artificial Intelligence. A major advantage of this model is the ability to conduct comparable studies in several countries, and to understand how different healthcare structures may have different outcomes, for example in patient pathways, as we are detecting with respect to Covid-19.
P.- Why can this database be used?
GP- From a scientific perspective, our data can be used for publication fines. Our THIN database has been cited in more than 1300 scientific publications, and this number is growing every month. From the R&D angle, our data can be used to discover unsatisfied medical and patient needs and to identify subsets of anonymous patients with specific characteristics (pathology, disease history, environment …). Medical Affairs departments can also use this information to analyze products in real life, such as treatment adherence.
AV – Our data can also be extremely relevant for Market Access and HEOR actions, for example to generate budget impact models, new price definition, cost-effectiveness analysis, etc.
P.- In a health crisis like the one we are going through, how can all this information be harnessed?
Doctor – Healthcare systems around the world are facing the repercussions of a tremendous exogenous disruption caused by Covid-19, at various levels. But it is in health care where this pandemic is having its greatest effect, with features both in terms of supply and demand. On the supply side, health care organizations are evidencing a lack of resources. On the demand side, limitations in patient transportation, patients ’absence from scheduled appointments, and interventions for fear against Covid-19, also put pressure on the health care system. So now more than ever, our THIN data can provide crucial information to help the health sciences advance scientific knowledge and help improve public health.
AV- Our data are ready for the learning machine to help identify high-risk patient populations, and to predict serious disease in Covid-19 patients. The richness of the data can be used to test hypotheses driven by real-life research questions, such as why some people are asymptomatic and others are not? In the near future, we will be able to estimate the impact and evaluate the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines in a real-world population.