IQVIA, the giant Connecticut-based provider of biopharmaceutical and commercial outsourcing services to the life sciences industry, has begun to deploy technologies powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to boost the patient experience and that of health care professionals (HCPs), the company announced in a recent news release on its website.
The new AI-powered technologies take the form of virtual agents, which are deployed alongside skilled human operators to triage and respond to inquiries. The combination of AI and human agents, the company said, creates faster response times and speedier reporting of adverse events or quality concerns.
The AI mechanisms are also expected to enhance the provider’s Medical Information (MI) Contact Center services, which are used by life science companies to share information about new products and related therapeutic areas, as well as to monitor the quality and safety of products overall. The IQVIA MI Contact Center services are available in more than 170 countries, according to the company.
“Adding new digital capabilities to our existing MI services marks a critical point in the industry as companies seek to balance the delivery of unbiased information to meet the needs of HCPs and patients,” said Annette Williams, vice president and global head of lifecycle safety at IQVIA. The provider’s medical information services integrate across the organization’s safety and quality offerings, Williams added, equipping clients with the end-to-end technology and services that they require to increase trust for their patients.
Formerly known as Quintiles and IMS Health, IQVIA serves the health information technology (IT) and clinical research spheres. With a total equity in 2021 of $49.7 billion, IQVIA is reportedly one of the world’s largest contract research organizations, providing research services on a contract basis to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries to reduce the cost of developing new medicines and drugs, especially in niche markets. In related news, IQVIA said it is collaborating with HealthCore Inc., the Delaware-based clinical research outcomes subsidiary of health benefits company Anthem Inc., to advance real-world evidence (RWE) studies more efficiently. RWE studies, or evidence-based findings, incorporate scientific methods with dynamic data to evaluate the efficacy of treatments. Data is culled from various sources, including electronic medical records, pharmacy and medical claims, laboratory and genomics records, and patient-reported outcomes.
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Alex is responsible for writing about trends and changes that are impacting the customer experience market. He had served as Principal Editor at Village Intelligence, a Los Angeles-based consultancy on technology impacting healthcare and healthcare-related industries. Alex was also Associate Director for Content Management at Omdia and Informa Tech, where he produced white papers, executive summaries, market insights, blogs, and other key content assets. His areas of coverage spanned the sectors grouped under the technology vertical, including semiconductors, smart technologies, enterprise & IT, media, displays, mobile, power, healthcare, China research, industrial and IoT, automotive, and transformative technologies.
At IHS Markit, he was Managing Editor of the company’s flagship IHS Quarterly, covering aerospace & defense, economics & country risk, chemicals, oil & gas, and other IHS verticals. He was Principal Editor of analyst output at iSuppli Corp. and Managing Editor of Market Watch, a fortnightly newsletter highlighting significant analyst report findings for pitching to the media. He started his career in writing as an Editor-Reporter for The Associated Press.
