The energy at this year’s ISPOR Annual conference was palpable. As over 4000 professionals from across industry, government, and academia descended on Boston, it was clear that ISPOR — the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research — is the preeminent “meeting of the minds” for health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) globally. 

At ISPOR 2023, the PicnicHealth team showed up in a big way. From meeting in person with our current partners, to connecting with new potential collaborators, the event was key for our Partnerships team. The PicnicHealth booth was a high-traffic location, where attendees were able to stop by for a meet-and-greet and learn more about our real-world data (RWD)-driven offerings. Our Research team was also very active at ISPOR, with three poster presentations showcasing real-world evidence from PicnicHealth cohorts spanning three disease areas.  

1. Disease Modifying Therapy (DMT) Utilization and Health Care Resource Utilization (HCRU) Among Adults with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in a United States-Based Real-World Cohort View Poster
2. Utilization of Diagnostic Testing in Alzheimer’s Patients View Poster
3. Exploring the Path to Diagnosis for Patients with Myasthenia Gravis Using Real-World Data View Poster

Whether or not you had the opportunity to attend the three action-packed days of ISPOR this year, we’ve got you covered with a summary of 4 major themes that emerged: 

1. RWE: From ISPOR Theme to Common Thread

It was not too long ago that the concept of real world evidence (RWE) began to buzz throughout major life science meetings and forums. This ‘buzz’ soon turned into targeted RWE sessions within conference programs unpacking terminology and exploring the opportunities and challenges of using RWD. With a growing number and type of RWD sources and increasing recognition from decision-makers of the value of this evidence for studying new therapies, RWE further evolved into a mainstay topic and often a central theme or track at events like ISPOR. The conversations evolved from ‘what is RWE?’ and ‘how can we use it?’ to a richer dialogue on methods and applications. At ISPOR 2023, it was exciting to see how RWE has again graduated from a recurring theme to a common thread across effectively all outcomes research topics. Whether we’re talking about health policy, analytic approaches, digital technology or even clinical trials, we can be certain that RWE will be part of the conversation.  ‍

2. Transparency: Seeing the Data Clearly 

RWE’s embedded role within the HEOR community was further evidenced by the ISPOR RWE Summit, which took place the Sunday before the main ISPOR conference. This event was dedicated to examining key issues surrounding RWE in regulatory decisions and health technology assessment, and did so with a scientifically rigorous program centered around data quality. The topic that surfaced most at the RWE Summit and throughout the three days of main programming that followed, was transparency. The message from stakeholders was clear: more transparency on data collection and curation is needed for decision-making. Beyond being crucial to inform decisions on the acceptance of and access to a novel therapy, transparent reporting also supports reproducibility of results. This call to action certainly applies to data generators/providers, but what about HEOR professionals and other users of RWD within the life sciences industry? In short, ask the right question. If the RWD provider you’re considering cannot explain clearly and comprehensively how their data is retrieved and processed, this should raise a flag that signals further inquiry.   ‍

3. Language Matters: But Concepts are Changing

Terminology has always been critical within the ISPOR community. As a hub for global HEOR experts who work across different markets, therapeutic areas, and stages of drug development, the ISPOR conference sessions underscored the importance of using consistent terms and a common language when discussing these complex topics. In the early days of RWE, conversations focused on reinforcing RWD as the antithesis of RCT data; even today, the easiest and most common way to define RWD is “data collected outside of the traditional controlled trials”. But as clinical trials have evolved to encompass a broad spectrum of explanatory and pragmatic designs, thought leaders at ISPOR considered the notion that these traditional juxtapositions (e.g. RWE vs. RCT; Interventional vs. non-interventional study) may no longer serve us. To drive this conversation forward, PicnicHealth recently convened thought leaders in clinical trial innovation for a webinar, “Real-World Data By Design — Incorporating Different Data Types into Clinical Trials” that can be accessed here.  ‍

4. AI : Artificial Intelligence, Real Applications   

Finally, a central theme at ISPOR this year was the ability of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to transform the way we generate evidence. Sessions covered a wide range of AI applications for health economics and market access, from predicting treatment outcomes, to assessing the cost-efficiency of novel therapies, to carrying out comparative effectiveness research. Moreover, the conference highlighted how applying ML, and specifically natural language processing (NLP) to electronic health records (EHRs) can  uncover important insights on the patient journey, with more efficiency and accuracy than ever before. As a health technology company with a core capability in human-curated, ML-driven data abstraction, the PicnicHealth team is ecstatic to see the growing recognition of advanced analytics – not as a replacement for clinical contextualization, but as a critical tool for delivering deep clinical insights at scale. 

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ISPOR 2023 may have wrapped, but we’re keeping the conversation going. Didn’t get a chance to connect with us? Want to learn more about the data our team presented? Contact us today!