In 2024, the Health Data Passport webinar series embarked on a global journey, visiting 12 countries including Japan, Australia, Canada, China, Germany, the UK, the US and many others. Our mission was to explore the Real World Data (RWD) assets available in these diverse regions, such as,  prescription data, oncology data, genomic data, ambulatory emr, claims data, and many more. We heard from experts around the world on how RWD can be leveraged across the pharma life cycle.

Fast forward to 2025, and our focus has shifted to solving some of the most pressing challenges faced globally when using Real World Data and technology. Episode 14 of the series brought together over a dozen experts from various locations and specialties, including North America, Latin America, Australia/NZ and EMEA. Each expert revealed the key RWD challenges their clients face and shared practical solutions, tools, and strategies to solve them. Watch it on demand now to hear all the insights, but for now, let’s review some of the key highlights.

Accessing Data Insights

Kevin Schweikert, Director of Business Development in the USA, highlighted how researchers struggle to identify relevant Real World Data sources, both internally and externally, to avoid delays in querying data sets. Knowing what data exists, what the client already has, and what can be accessed without requiring a statement of work (SOW), contract, or time is crucial.

Meanwhile, in Australia, Mahsa Kouhkamari, Associate Principal of Consulting Services, emphasizes the importance of ensuring the data set is fit for purpose. Generating reliable and faster insights is essential for making data-driven decisions, especially under time pressure. Ed Banfield, Associate Product & Strategy Director, UK / Global, highlighted how IQVIA's Analytics Research Accelerator supports this need by providing a consistent way to load and analyze multiple global data sets, linking and merging them to create integrated data for meaningful insights.

Unified View for Searching Dataset Assets

Bill Grochowski, Associate Business Development Director, USA, adds that a unified data platform improves decision-making, efficiency, and collaboration by providing comprehensive and accurate data. It reduces time and effort required to locate and integrate data, ensures consistency and accuracy, and fosters better collaboration between departments.

Across the Atlantic in the UK, James Philpott, Director of Business Development, EMEA, highlights the challenge of finding the right data in various countries beyond well-known sources. Clients need to look beyond developed markets like America, the European Union, and the UK to find data in regions like Latin America and APAC.

Hélène Giafferi, Product & Strategy Director, Real World Data, France, showcased how this challenge is effectively addressed by an interactive Real World Data catalog like IQVIA's Health Data Catalog allows users to search through thousands of data sets, filter results, and access detailed information about each data set's source, content, and usage. This unified view is critical for time-saving and efficient decision-making. Kirill Dushkin, Senior Principal, Strategy/Life Sciences, UK, also spoke about how IQVIA's Health Data Catalog addresses this challenge by offering a broad and deep catalog with more than 4000 data assets and customizable search options, allowing users to find the right data quickly and efficiently.

Overcoming Obstacles to Data Provisioning

Back in the USA, Brian Hannah, Senior Principal of Patient Analytics & AI, identifies institutional inertia and the desire for clients to ingest all the data in-house as major obstacles. Companies have many processes and systems built to leverage data in specific formats and places, which can lead to delays and inefficiencies in processing and staging data. Newer cloud-based solutions like allow instant sharing of data without physically moving it, enabling quicker access.

Anindya Banerjee, Managing Principal of Brand Insights Consulting, Advisory & Brand Intelligence, US points out that internal understanding of technology and best practices is a significant obstacle. Clients often feel pressure to solve all questions with the data they have, leading to challenges in training, technology, data management, and governance. IQVIA's EMR to EDC solution supports automated data extracts directly from EMR, eliminating manual refreshes and improving data consistency.

Real-Time Data Impact

In the UK, Oliver Jeffs, Solutions Sales Specialist, warns that not working with real-time data can negatively impact operational areas and commercial performance. Outdated information affects the speed and accuracy of decision-making, leading to suboptimal decisions and misdirected sales efforts. IQVIA's AIML Patient Journey solutions track patient-level KPIs regularly, providing precise and timely insights into market changes. This empowers teams to make informed business decisions quickly, positively impacting commercial and operational performance.

Anindya Banerjee echoes this sentiment, emphasizing that data lag is a significant issue in the industry. Timely access to decision moments is crucial for making informed treatment decisions, and reducing data lag from weeks to days can improve patient care and decision-making.

Timely Decisions and Real World Data in Drug Development

Oliver Jeffs explains how IQVIA's AIML Patient Journey solutions track patient-level KPIs regularly, providing precise and timely insights into market changes. This empowers teams to make informed business decisions quickly, positively impacting commercial and operational performance.

Brian Hannah adds that understanding which use cases need timely data such as and getting insights quickly is crucial. Using information that is a few days old in competitive markets can help teams adapt to changes and remain competitive which is why IQVIA offers daily data in some countries.

Emerging Trends in Data Analytics

James Philpott discusses the increasing importance of Real World Evidence for understanding long-term health impacts and ensuring cost-effectiveness in treatment. It helps payers and insurance companies understand the long-term impact of conditions on patients.

Joe Imperato, Senior Principal of RW Technology & Analytics in the USA, highlights the benefits of integrated analytic platforms leveraging next-generation technologies. Democratization of analytics allows users to query data themselves, reducing the time and labor required for analysis.

Data Integration and Analysis

Martin Fox, Principal of Commercial Strategy & Insights in the UK, describes the difficulties clients face integrating and analyzing data from multiple sources. Combining different data sets and drawing relevant insights is challenging due to differences in formats, definitions, and medical practices. IQVIA's Health Data Catalog and Analytics Research Accelerator help overcome these challenges by providing a consistent way to load and analyze multiple global data sets, linking and merging them to create integrated data for meaningful insights.

Kirill Dushkin emphasizes the importance of partnerships and priming the pipe for data access. Differences in data formats, definitions, and medical practices make integration and analysis difficult. Common data models like OMOP standardize data for analysis, ensuring consistency and scientific rigor.

Ensuring Data Compliance

Alan Frederickson, Head of Data and Tech Enabled Sites in the USA, discusses the biggest challenges in navigating health data regulations. Trust is the biggest challenge, along with the multitude of regulations. Ensuring data privacy and security is crucial for gaining trust from sponsors, healthcare providers, and regulators. IQVIA focuses on infrastructure and policies to ensure data compliance, using Level 3 servers, regional data access, and patient consent.

Brad Millson in Canada talks about the evolving privacy landscape and provincial regulations. Tools for privacy risk mitigation and de-identification help protect patient data, unlocking the value of data while retaining safety.

Conclusion: The Future of Real World Data

The challenges highlighted in this blog underscore the critical need for improved data management strategies, enhanced confidence in data insights, and better regulatory compliance to optimize data-driven approaches in the life sciences industry. By addressing these challenges, organizations can unlock the full potential of real-world data, leading to more informed decision-making, faster and more accurate insights, and ultimately, better patient outcomes.

As we continue to navigate the complexities of data integration, quality, and security, it is essential to leverage innovative solutions and collaborate across departments to ensure that data-driven strategies are both effective and compliant. The future of the life sciences industry depends on our ability to harness the power of data, and by doing so, we can drive meaningful advancements in healthcare and improve the lives of patients worldwide.

Watch the replay of Episode 15 Solving Patient Finding Challenges now to hear over 20+ global experts share innovative solutions for overcoming patient finding challenges and improving patient outcomes.