Inside the new world of healthcare data

by | Apr 20, 2023 | Portfolio News

In a recent episode of the PharmaPhorum podcast, Evidation co-CEO and Executive Chair of the Board Deborah Kilpatrick discussed healthcare data collection in 2023 and how it intersects with stakeholders across the ecosystem, from tech and pharma companies to research participants.

The discussion began with data gathering, and Kilpatrick said that Evidation works with PGHD—patient-generated health data that comes from smart watches, mobile phones, patient-reported data, and other tools that capture information relevant to health.

“It’s about characterization of health status using these types of new real-world data and being able to use that in a way to measure health differently and use those measurements as a way to make sure those people get the right care at the right time,” Kilpatrick said.

Why do people trust Evidation with their health data?

“Just like we do our best to show up with scientific rigor and credibility for our enterprise customers and partners in the pharma channel, I think that it’s perfectly reasonable for individuals and consumers to expect us to show up to them in a way they expect in the context of life,” Kilpatrick said.

Kilpatrick says Evidation earns trust by making sure all communications from the company are relevant. For example, if a user receives an invitation to participate in a research study, it will be for a condition that person cares about or lives with—and the way Evidation knows that is that the user has voluntarily shared that data.

“The way we keep trust over time is in our approach to privacy controls, data permissioning, and consent for participation,” Kilpatrick said. Evidation doesn’t use generic consent forms; each consent is purpose built for that one activity or study.

This far-reaching conversation includes the tenets of good data stewardship, and how to build a business model that respects data donors and avoids bias while still delivering value to researchers. Kilpatrick also talks about how both person- and system-generated data are important to the success of research as well as the patient experience.

Listen to the podcast here.