Blog
Data Modernization: How Federal Agencies Are Learning from Commercial Peers
Gregg Greenfield, Executive Strategist, IQVIA Government Solutions
Michael Bruhn, Practice Lead, IQVIA Government Solutions
Feb 09, 2024

Across federal agencies, diverse legacy approaches to data management, data interoperability, and data sharing have taken shape over decades, making it increasingly challenging to maximize the value of data even within an organization. Across the federal enterprise, it is even more complex to share healthcare information in pursuit of better mission outcomes.

With “business as usual” no longer sustainable, each agency is in the process of building and pursuing multi-year strategies for change.

For example, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) — which enables the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force medical services — has a strategic initiative focused on driving decision making at all levels of the organization with data. In support of that initiative, DHA is actively working to transform its data to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model. In addition to supporting better decision making, this transformation will help in preserving privacy. It will help increase DHA’s research capacity by simplifying queries against the agency’s data. Looking to the not-so-distant future, it will enable the agency to take advantage of no-code analytic platforms.

To support this important transformation, DHA is working with IQVIA — and this agency isn’t the only one to do so.

The benefits of data modernization

In the journey to data modernization, federal agencies can leverage the hard-won lessons of their peers in commercial enterprises.

Industry has recognized and capitalized on the benefits of data modernization for a while now. By modernizing data, federal agencies can enjoy these same advantages — including more effective collaboration, improved data standardization and stewardship, higher efficiency and productivity, enhanced security, better real-world data quality, and real-time decision making. Data modernization can also contribute to lower costs and enable better service and experiences for all stakeholders.

By investing in data modernization, agencies are positioned to drive improvements across the broad spectrum of health: scientific discovery, clinical research, health equity, population health, and more.

IQVIA collaborations in the federal space

While every agency’s modernization strategy has unique elements, there are data management best practices that can be considered sound investments. Across IT systems, applications, and use cases, these practices are designed to help improve how healthcare data is captured, managed, and shared across federal organizations.

IQVIA is translating its considerable experience in helping commercial biopharma organizations unlock the value of their data to help in the federal market, too. It is bringing proven approaches to the people, process, and technology elements that help accelerate an agency’s journey from real-world data to actionable insights.

For example, IQVIA incorporates human-centered design to understand users’ stated and unstated needs and to support successful adoption and change within the organization. It offers deep experience in developing solutions and a flexible model for deploying them. Also core to its products and services is IQVIA’s ability to store sensitive data in a highly secure and controlled manner to ensure privacy as analytics are generated and distributed.

While IQVIA might seem like a new name in the federal market, it has already supported numerous agencies in tackling data modernization goals, including:

  • Defining a data management strategy, data governance process, and master data management (MDM) roadmap for patient and provider data,
  • Completing an MDM implementation for clinic provider, patient, and location data,
  • Implementing patient MDM for 10 years of lab patient data,
  • Implementing and actively maintaining a reference data management solution for clinical reference data,
  • Defining and establishing a provider data cleansing strategy, and
  • Defining a data quality tools framework.

With its record in healthcare data — including real-world evidence — IQVIA is uniquely equipped to support federal agencies in their data modernization journeys. It is looking forward to opportunities to collaborate with more federal organizations and other industry partners to help advance data management and modernization and, ultimately, support improved health outcomes.

Man on laptop at meeting

Ensure your Data Modernization strategy meets your needs

Modernizing healthcare data enables organizations to leverage accurate, timely, and comprehensive information for real-world evidence-based, data-driven decisions.

Related solutions

Contact Us