Access to high-quality healthcare is not just a goal—it’s a global right. At Schain Research, we believe that robust real-world evidence (RWE) plays a critical role in making that belief a reality.
By helping decision-makers understand how care is delivered across different populations and healthcare systems, we move one step closer to more equitable, patient-centered healthcare.
“Real-world data not only helps us find answers—it often raises the right questions about how care is delivered today.”
– Kelvin HM Kwok, PhD
Strengthening the Foundation for Better Healthcare Decisions
At Schain Research, our 2025 strategy focuses on three interconnected themes designed to ensure real-world data (RWD) can genuinely deliver on its promise:
- Global RWD Infrastructure: Mapping data access and healthcare system variations across countries
- Data Curation and Quality: Enabling high-integrity insights that meet both regulatory and HTA standards
- Smart Communication: Helping clients surface and communicate insights in ways that drive action
In practice, this means supporting our partners in identifying patterns, surfacing insights, and making meaningful improvements in patient care—from treatment planning to access strategy.
From Global Perspectives to Local Impact
Health systems worldwide—from the Nordics to Asia-Pacific—are increasingly turning to RWE. Our mapping of global RWD infrastructure shows accelerating progress in key markets like the US, EU, UK, Canada, and East Asia. Local agencies in these regions are advancing data strategies to support regulatory and reimbursement decisions, post-marketing surveillance, and more (1,2).
But more data doesn’t always mean better decisions. That’s where tools like our EpiX platform come in—offering a smart, centralized way to compare, navigate, and analyze registry-based data across borders. It’s one way we’re helping to turn fragmented data into usable insights.
Visualizing the Treatment Sequence
One area that has always fascinated me is how real-world evidence can uncover hidden gaps in care—often where no one was looking. One way we do this is through treatment pathway analysis.
By applying visualization tools like sunburst diagrams and Sankey plots to Nordic RWD, we’ve explored how patients are managed in real life compared to what guidelines recommend. These methods have been applied across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare diseases, and maternal-fetal medicine.
It’s incredibly rewarding to see how this type of work can help us better understand treatment patterns, identify unmet needs, and inform more patient-centric strategies.
“A good visualization doesn’t just display data –
it unlocks perspective.”
While health awareness days like World Health Day highlight the importance of health equity, our work is grounded in the everyday realities of access, adherence, and outcomes. Real-world evidence enables a wide range of stakeholders—from regulators to pharmaceutical companies—to make better decisions, for more people, in more places.
We’re continuing to:
- Publish more bite-sized case stories
- Increase awareness of how RWE supports regulatory and reimbursement decisions.
- Engage in global forums to share Nordic insights with the world.
Interested in learning more about our global capabilities or the EpiX platform? Get in touch with us.
References
- Burns et al., Real-world evidence for regulatory decision-making: guidance from around the world. Clin Ther. 2022, 44(3):420-437.
- Sarri et al., The maze of real-world evidence frameworks: from a desert to a jungle! An environmental scan and comparison across regulatory and health technology assessment agencies. J Comp Eff Res. 2024, 13(9):e240061.
Author
Kelvin HM Kwok, PhD
Real-World Evidence Expert, Schain Research
