IMS's unique insights prove valuable to academia, public policy-makers and institutions dedicated to the improvement of healthcare
IMS specialises in the collection and interpretation of anonymised health information, often being the only source of data on aspects of medicine utilisation within and outside the UK, as well as across Europe. Its complex secure databases are an invaluable source of insight into the management of disease and are used by governments, drug safety organisations, public health institutions, universities, professional medical bodies, professional pharmacy bodies, industry and patient organisations across the world.
The range of different healthcare providers that use IMS data to better understand the dynamics and patterns of disease and treatment demonstrates the value of IMS data to improving healthcare.
- Almost every pharmaceutical company in the UK uses one or more of the databases collected and analysed by IMS. In addition, the joint Department of Health and the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry Group that has been established to monitor patient access to medicines and industry competitiveness. (PICTF) has also used IMS data.
- The Department of Health uses IMS data as a source of information about hospital prescribing and to complement Department of Health data about prescribing in the community.
- The Medicines Control Agency uses an IMS database as part of it's work on pharmacovigilance. Researchers at the Public Health Laboratories Service Antibiotic Unit have used several of the databases to study antibiotic resistance.
- Many different researchers from many different universities have used IMS data as part of their studies to highlight areas of unmet need or to focus on particular health issues.
- Patient organisations have also used IMS data, some of the most recent examples being work done with the British Liver Trust and the Alzheimer's Society in their submissions to the Health Select Committee Inquiry into the National Institute of Clinical Excellence.
- The value of IMS data is illustrated by of the case studies summarised below. More detail on these and other studies can be found in the Research section.
- Comparative performance
IMS collects information from more than 100 countries. In some countries this data is the only source of information on medicine utilisation. The collection methodology in each country is similar, thus allowing comparisons to be made between countries. This advantage was recently highlighted in a paper published in the international medical journal, The Lancet, which compared the use of antibiotics across the European Community. Work continues with the University College of London on comparing the treatment of myocardial infarction in different countries and with the Institute of Health and Social Care for Norway on the use of a particular class of cardiovascular drug.
- Long-term effects
Evidence of changes in the health of a population or the impact of changes in care systems and health policy builds up slowly over time. IMS has collected information on medicine utilisation for more than 40 years, and is often the only source for such data. Data for the last 12 years can, moreover, be accessed quickly and easily. At the present time, IMS is providing information for a study on the long term effects of changes in the availability of psychiatric drugs and systems of care that cut across all of these regions. Recently IMS also saw its data published in a study demonstrating the relative decline in the mental health of young men in the UK since 1975.
- Drug safety
IMS data is used by the drug safety agencies in France, UK and US. The WHO Collaborating center for International Drug Monitoring uses IMS data in combination with adverse event databases from around the world. The combination has been shown to enable earlier detection of adverse events and increased investigative powers - for example in the cases of tiaprofenic acid and aseptic cystitis and withdrawal reactions to SSRIs.
- Performance monitoring
Variations in the costs and quality of care are well known. No data is collected centrally on the use of medicines in hospital. IMS collects data on prescribing in Hospitals that comprise more than 90% of all hospital beds in the UK. In other countries it's data has been used to investigate the effect of formularies (France) and particular government initiatives such as generics (Italy) and parallel imports (Germany).
- Health care administration
Many different governments, including the UK, use IMS data for reimbursement analyses and price negotiations. IMS data is also used by the NHS to help analyse data collected centrally. The NHS uses IMS information on average dosages to help standardise comparisons across different areas and populations.