Real World Data and its promise for medicine and research

“Better access to data about real world patient experience holds enormous potential to help achieve many of the goals of health reform, including improving the quality and delivery of medical care, reducing costs, and improving safety and outcomes by accelerating the knowledge base upon which the development of new treatments and cures relies.
Capturing data about the actual experience of patients outside of the carefully controlled clinical trial setting – Real World Data – can help fill the knowledge gap between clinical trials and clinical practice. RWD offers a treasure-trove of information that could allow providers, innovators, health plans, researchers, and others in the scientific and medical communities to make faster, more efficient, and less costly advances in medical research and clinical treatment. Life sciences companies can use this data to explore the benefits and risks of treatment options including their effectiveness in patient subpopulations, expedite enrollment in clinical trials, identify new targets for research and development, and transform the value equation in medical care.”