Secondary data
supplementing primary data
A research institute is interested in the best possible care for patients with chronic heart failure. They carry out medical tests and surveys themselves. However, they do not find their study adequate.
With their surveys, they reach the limits of the subjects' memory. They want to circumvent this problem by using health insurance data. However, they are unsure which steps need to be taken into account when linking their survey data and health insurance data.
They consult the PMV research group, which develops an individual data linkage concept taking into account the current data protection requirements and initiates the corresponding steps.
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The current care situation
a quick overview
The pharmaceutical company is interested in the drug supply of patients with cancer at the end of their lives. The current study situation in this area is limited, so that the company plans to conduct its own study. They find data from the statutory health insurance company very suitable for obtaining a quick and undistorted overview of the current care situation.
The first talks with health insurance companies have already been held. However, the company lacks the necessary know-how for handling such data.
They commission PMV research group to plan and implement the study. Thus, the company is also sure that the principles of Good Practice Secondary Data Analysis (GPS) and the Recommendations for Ensuring Good Epidemiological Practice (GEP) will be followed.
A comprehensive study protocol is prepared, appropriate statistical methods are used for the analyses and the results are made available to the company in a final report.
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Health insurance companies
Evaluation of interventions
using secondary data
A health insurance company (or several) is planning a complex intervention to improve the use of drugs in patients with multi-medication. In this group, the entire medication is to be evaluated and, if necessary, changed. Doctors who participate in the project receive additional information from the health insurance company on the patient's medical history and the possibility of electronic prescription support.
After three years, it is now necessary to check whether patients benefit from this intervention. Among other things, this is to be done on the basis of data from health insurance companies, with the help of which it will be possible, for example, to analyse whether people who have taken part in this project need hospitalisation less frequently than those who do not take part in this project.
The PMV research group has been commissioned for this purpose because it has many years of experience in the evaluation of interventions based on routine data of the statutory health insurance companies. If data of several health insurance companies are used, PMV also has the expertise to merge the data.
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Drug therapy
In accordance with the guidelines?
Clinical experts report a worrying increase in the consumption of certain drugs (opioids, stimulants).
Together with the PMV research group, an examination concept is being developed and a comprehensive analysis programmed, which should provide information about which patients, how long, and by which doctor groups these drugs were prescribed.
It is of particular interest to determine whether the medication was used according to the guidelines.
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Prevalence estimate
Additional benefit through health insurance data
A research institute would like to validate the figures it has determined on the prevalence of disease using data from statutory health insurance companies.
Based on many years of experience, the PMV research group can advise where the additional benefit of health insurance data lies in the prevalence determination.
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Drug selection by doctors
What is the first-line therapy?
Physicians should be supported in their choice of medication by guidelines and recommendations for first-line therapy.
The PMV research group has the pharmaceutical and epidemiological competence to work out the evidence for first-line drug therapy of diseases.
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Innovative forms of care
Cost-benefit analyses
Which factors influence the economic efficiency and sustainability of innovative forms of care on the way to regular operation? Only knowledge of the costs and benefits for each of the actors involved makes it possible to identify barriers and address them in a targeted manner.
The PMV resrach group conducts cost-benefit analyses for the evidence-based development of business models. In an interactive process the "value case" of all involved parties is developed and agreed upon.
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Europe
Examples of innovative care from neighbouring countries
Must the wheel always be reinvented? Many of the challenges of modern care have been and are being addressed in neighbouring European countries.
The PMV research group is well networked in many EU member states as well as with central actors on the Brussels stage. We arrange contacts, participate in joint projects and bring the burning issues of care and care research to the committees.
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In a collaborative project, data from different providers need to by pseudonymised. PMV research group develops a data management plan in collaboration with all project partners.
Furthermore, PMV provides a pseudonymisation software to all data providers that manages the pseudonymisation, the encryption of all medical data in the datasets as well as secure and encrypted data transmission.
PMV research group also either acts as a trust center to the project or provides a suitable cooperation partner to do so, integrating them into the data flow of the pseudonymisation software.
Using the software, the complete data flow is handled in a coordinated way across the project as well as in accordance with all data protection regulation.
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Care reports
Enhancing official statistics
A federal state public health agency asks for reports on health services utilization for different popoulation groups (children, women, patients with diabetes etc.). A lot of information, including from official statistics, is available but needs to be brought together into one comprehensive and easy to understand care report.
PMV research group is tasked with compiling that care report as we can get access to relevant claims data sets and have a track record of analysing and combing this with findings from other sources, including regional and local data.
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Data management
Data management plan, data pooling, plausibility and quality checking
In a collaborate project, claims data from different health insurances are to be pooled for analysis.
PMV research group coordinates a minimal dataset between the health insurances, creates a data management plan (including data protection measures) and prepares the application for approval by the auhthorities concerned.
PMV requests and pools the data and carries out plausibility and quality checks, creating a dataset for analysis by the respective project partners.
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