Real-world evidence in decision-making process: analysis from the Brazilian private healthcare system perspective

Abstract

The debate about the needs for healthcare resource utilization improvement has been soaring during the last years. As a result, discussions on enhancements of the decision-making process through the leverage of real-world evidence (RWE) has also been fostered. In the 7th Latin American congress of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, different speakers explored how the management of these data support real-life healthcare decisions. Four members representing different segments from the Brazilian Supplementary Healthcare System (SHS) were invited to participate on an expert panel in order to understand their perceptions on this subject. The confidence level on available data ranges from 70% to 90% and information is used on decision-making routine. When the use of real-world evidence to predict decision was considered, panelists reported the absence of an institutional decision matrix, but that existing information is used to build predictive models through the creation of service packages. The prioritization of decision-making today is essentially based on the estimation of costs. However, different situations in which real-world data can  guide this process are observed. There was a consensus on a paradigm shift ongoing and that these processes represent a plausible future. The use of RWE is of great importance on decision-making process from the SHS perspective and, above all, in a support of value-based healthcare model which is recommended by Brazilian private agency (ANS) as the strategic pillar to system sustainability.