On June 5th, 2019, ArisGlobal held a webinar focused on the “Key Use Cases of Automation in Pharmacovigilance.” During that event, 84% of attendees indicated a significant increase in their case volumes over the last five years. However, only 64% have a plan in place to solve this challenge using automation, and 27% reported that they don’t know enough about automation to embrace it.
As covered in our first blog in this series, an ongoing and significant increase in ICSR case volumes is challenging today’s pharmacovigilance (PV) department. This was confirmed by 84% of our webinar attendees who, when asked “How have your cases volumes change over the last 5 years?” responded that their organization’s volume increase was significant. This rise in reported adverse events (AEs) impacts organizations from a cost, resource and compliance perspective.
Recent advancements in technology are enabling automation to help address the growing PV challenges organizations face. Cognitive computing, which utilizes artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing, and robotic process automation (RPA), are driving better productivity and case quality. In fact, ArisGlobal has spent the last few years developing this technology around real-world use cases in close partnership with clients like the FDA, Boehringer Ingelheim, Biogen and AbbVie, among others.
Yet, when our webinar attendees were asked “Does your company have a strategic plan for PV Automation? ” responses were a mixed bag. One-third of attendees indicated their company had an automation plan and that it was one of their highest PV priorities. Another 30% shared that they had a plan, but that it wasn’t seen as a current priority. The remaining respondents didn’t have any strategic automation plan either because they didn’t know much about automation (27%) or because it wasn’t viewed as a current priority (9%). With this smaller group, one might surmise that their company’s case volume activity didn’t warrant improved productivity.
Does your company have a strategic plan for PV Automation?
NO, BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT AUTOMATION.NO, BECAUSE WE DON’T THINK AUTOMATION IS A PRIORITY RIGHT NOW.YES, HOWEVER AUTOMATION IS NOT A HIGH PRIORITY FOR US RIGHT NOW.YES, AUTOMATION OF PV PROCESSES IS ONE OF OUR HIGHEST PRIORITIES.
For those where resources are constrained and improved efficiency is desired, moving forward with creating and implementing a PV automation strategy first begins with understanding the inherent value that cognitive computing can enable across core PV processes — duplicate check, case intake, narrative generation, quality check, follow-up processing, and more – for automating manual and repetitive tasks, reducing error, and reducing cost.
ArisGlobal’s real world experience is showing that automation can drive significant productivity gains. For example, the intelligent optical character recognition used by our LifeSphere MultiVigilance solution can significantly reduce data entry effort for structured data, such as Serious Adverse Event (SAE) forms, by as much as 50%.
To gain a better understanding of the automation use cases we’ve focused on, ArisGlobal offers a variety of resources to read, view or attend:
- View the on-demand webinar Key Use Cases of Automation in Pharmacovigilance to learn more about specific ways automation can be applied for streamlined case management.
- Read our white paper “Cognitive Computing in Pharmacovigilance: Revamping Drug Safety Using an Advanced Computing System” and peer-reviewed article, “Cognitive Pharmacovigilance: Business Perspective.”
- Attend a complimentary lunch-and-learn workshop on July 18th in Cambridge, MA. “Building an Automation-Centric Approach to Drug Safety.” During the two-hour workshop, Edwin Raj, Senior Director and Head of Safety Operations, AMAG Pharmaceuticals will share how they have replaced their legacy Argus system and are moving away from repetitive manual tasks by automating patient data collection from any source, which reduces errors and increases cost savings. Space is limited, so register soon if you are available to attend.
(This is Blog Two in a Series of Three Blogs from the Key Use Cases of Automation in Pharmacovigilance Webinar.)
Stay tuned. In part 3 of this 3-part blog series, to be published next week, we will explore and share more specifics on the various use cases discussed in the June 5 webinar.
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