Making data-driven decisions has become a popular agenda in all industries, but especially for those in the healthcare ecosystem. To a certain extent, “everyone is doing it,” however, that extent is often defined by the transparency of the data being collected and utilized, as well as the sophistication of the datasets that serve as the backbone for any analytics that drive decisions.

As we make more decisions based on data, and therefore, need to collect more data from a variety of sources and algorithms, it has become important for data assets to complement each other so that the data can be trusted and consistent across a variety of purposes.

This complementary synergy, in essence, constitutes the connected intelligence at the root of IQVIA’s syndicated data offerings.

This two-part blog series covers the topics and themes from Cam Hall’s session at the virtual Fusion 2021 Connected Intelligence conference. This series will reveal some insights about how IQVIA is collaborating with clients to connect and leverage data through ValueTrak, a cloud-based data management tool that processes and analyzes channel and prescription data, and examines how user interface and backend enhancements assist clients with integrating business-critical data assets into third-party and internal systems.

The series will also address how the use of detailed patient information, when combined with artificial intelligence methodology, is helping to maximize patient adherence, and how those patient data are being used in financial sectors through a focus on gross-to-net.

Defining connected intelligence through data assets

• Watch a short clip about integrating downstream data

When we speak about “connected intelligence,” we are referring to more than a brand name or market awareness; connected intelligence is an approach to bringing together data, analytics, and healthcare expertise to increase agility, accelerate results, and move healthcare forward.

In an effort to achieve these goals, IQVIA collects, processes, and presents Detailed Sales Reporting (867) data files. These are then shared with distribution center sales and returns, to and from outlet locations, for use in business reporting and analytics. The ValueTrak platform helps improve sales and marketing effectiveness with 100% visibility of sales and returns into all classes of trade, including retail, hospitals, and clinics.

When manufacturer clients leverage 867 data to supplement drug distribution data (DDD) (where the restricted activity exists), they are able to obtain more complete visibility into channel purchases and supply. IQVIA’s plan for expanding that service includes a fully configurable option to supplement or replace the results of any downstream customer sales activity with sales observed in 867. Access to DDD has proven to be a tremendous asset for informing the pipeline inventory service in ValueTrak. That methodology projects inventory at various levels of the channel using inputs such as demand (or what leaves the pharmacy) observed in prescription data, and returns with supply, including 867 (or market visibility), and DDD purchase information at pharmacies. Access to a more comprehensive dataset in DDD allows IQVIA to offer the industry’s most complete pipeline inventory solution through unrivaled access to data.

We also continue to explore opportunities to align data in ValueTrak with DDD datasets at a more granular level, such as channel chain and outlet, to improve the accuracy of information available in pipeline inventory. While this example emphasizes enhanced DDD, similar solutions for clients are available to enrich other syndicated data assets with one’s own data. For example, it is possible to leverage the benefits of the granularity of specialty provider data with IQVIA’s syndicated patient data offerings, which many clients utilize today.

The “key” to leveraging data

• Watch a short clip about the ValueTrak interface

Connecting disparate data can also improve intelligence, which can in turn impact how customers engage with their audience. For example, consider a manufacturer-driven campaign program focused on hospitals with more than 400 beds that perform a certain number of procedures specific to their therapies or products. This presents a strong return on investment for clients who can identify thought leaders for their brands and determine where product movement or purchases are occurring for those prescribers. Measuring campaign effectiveness can then be accomplished by aligning targeting efforts with actual purchase activity.

However, knowing who to target and how to target them can be a challenge for those in the healthcare industry, but IQVIA offers a way to better understand these key audience members. Through OneKey, a reference data product that offers a robust set of insights, attributes, and traits about healthcare providers (HCPs) and organizations (HCOs), customers are able to understand the best stakeholders to engage with, and the optimal ways to engage with them.

Information stored in OneKey includes identifiers such as name and address, as well as business attributes such as financial metrics, bed counts, and provider/organizational affiliations — as in which facilities see prescriptions from specific providers. IQVIA is bridging the entities observed in downstream ship-to locations, primarily the detailed sales reporting, as well as HCPs and HCOs found in shipment, chargeback, group purchasing organization rosters, and other data sources that correspond with OneKey locations. This enhances the value of detailed sales reporting in interesting ways that allow manufacturers to target and segment.

Syndicated data offerings remain a significant focus of investment for IQVIA, and the emergence of intelligent connections reflects the breadth of that focus across data-based disciplines. This first highlights how IQVIA’s concept of intelligent connections can take your data to the next level and provide deeper, smarter insights. We dug in deeper to this topic at the recent Fusion 2021 conference; if you missed this year’s sessions, click here to watch them on demand!