Read the Conversation
Meeting highlights:
- IQVIA’s Priorities for 2025: Continue its journey to further improve patients’ outcomes while supporting healthcare stakeholders to drive the transformation of the healthcare system
- Progress in Healthcare Digitalization: Germany has made significant strides in healthcare digitization, such as the widespread adoption of e-prescriptions (over 75% uptake) and preparations for electronic health records. Also, the demand for virtual care and remote medical treatment remains and represents an important option for the ongoing shortage of doctors and nurses staff. To get along with this, the further development of digital concepts is crucial, and we can see that 11% of all newly founded start-ups in Germany operate in the healthcare sector. Only the IT sector itself has more new foundations.
- Strengthening Clinical Research: Germany’s focus on revitalizing clinical research by addressing administrative hurdles and improving legislation, IQVIA’s role in accelerating this.
- Leveraging AI and Technology: IQVIA employs advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning to support healthcare systems. Examples include real-time advice for surgeons using digital twins and automating administrative and practical processes for midwives and physicians to save time and reduce costs.
- Addressing Cost and Efficiency Challenges: Germany’s healthcare system faces cost pressures, especially in terms of sick funds. IQVIA supports cost containment through digitized invoicing processes and improved resource management. Additionally, efforts focus on optimizing spending to enhance health outcomes without increasing overall costs.
- IQVIA’s Strategic Role in Germany: Germany is IQVIA’s second-largest market by revenue and a key player globally due to its robust pharmaceutical market and openness to innovation. The company’s expanded role beyond life sciences as a provider of broader solutions for all components and organizations of the healthcare systems to broader healthcare solutions reflects its commitment to stabilizing and improving the healthcare system.
EF: How have your priorities changed over the past two years, and what market trends do you anticipate in 2025?
FW: The main goal of the past two years has been to keep moving forward with our mission to assist people in living longer, healthier lives. One of the components of our overall objective to reach out to broader healthcare is the transformation of the healthcare system. This implies that we will be more involved in the area of sickness funds and regulatory bodies, especially in Germany. For instance, we assist the BfArM by taking steps to monitor and stop shortages of medicines. We are the elected partner to handle the medicine shortages in Germany, and we have achieved traction of being more relevant to the healthcare system overall, even at an EMA level.
Germany has made significant strides in 2023 and 2024 in terms of healthcare digitization. After a lengthy period, e-prescription has been effectively introduced. According to our data, the adoption of e-prescriptions has been rapid and very robust. One of the accomplishments, in my opinion, is that three of the four prescriptions are now electronic. The creation of the electronic health record, which is anticipated to be implemented in 2025 onwards, is another accomplishment. Although there have been some difficulties and delays, I am certain it will be accessible by the second quarter.
Numerous changes have occurred, and we also observe a fundamental shift in Germany's perspective on clinical research, which was brought about by national icons such as BioNTech, who are strong in research and have relocated their oncology research to Cambridge, UK. This led the government, particularly Germany's Health Minister Dr. Karl Lauterbach, who is very research-oriented due to his background as a doctor, to question why there is a decreasing amount of research taking place in Germany. Administrative obstacles and other issues have been the main cause.
As IQVIA, we take great pride in the fact that, in conjunction with the association of research institutes, we were able to support the legislation surrounding clinical research with insights from our day-to-day work. In this context, I can also say that, as an organization, we have been able to enroll the first patient in studies more quickly than ever before, which is significant. Getting your therapies to patients as soon as feasible is crucial if you have effective treatments. Numerous changes are taking place on several levels, but the most important and recent one, which occurred only a few weeks ago, was the approval of the legislation pertaining to the hospital system (Krankenhausreform). This is most likely the final piece of legislation this present administration will enact that will impact the healthcare sector before the national elections in February.
EF: What is Germany's strategic importance to IQVIA as a worldwide organization, and why should IQVIA invest euros in Germany rather than elsewhere?
FW: First off, in terms of revenue, Germany is currently the second-largest prospect worldwide. As a result, investing in Germany would be prudent given our capacity for both organic and acquisition growth, particularly in light of our strategic decisions and expansion into the larger healthcare system. Despite all of our issues as a country with a highly complex administration, I think we still have a strong and unique foundation here since Germany is one of the biggest pharmaceutical markets in the world that is still well-funded, and medical innovations are rapidly available for the masses of patients compared to other states within the EU and beyond.
Overall, the quality of healthcare in Germany does have the potential to reduce bureaucracy, and it has this massive openness to innovation. The market is becoming more and more attractive, the population is increasing, and the environment is favorable. It appeals to the life sciences sector. The healthcare system is at a turning point in terms of digitization and needs to increase productivity. Thus, the opportunities are numerous. IQVIA must keep making investments. An area that IQVIA is focused on is selective contracting, which helps directly improve care for patients at a lower cost. I believe these trade-offs and providing solutions for them are very attractive.
EF: Since you have earned your client's trust, how do you help them make informed decisions by providing them with more than just data but also actionable insights?
FW: In the healthcare industry, data-driven decision-making is very crucial. Although we offer the fundamental data, it is crucial to generate new insights and improve forecasting and horizon scanning. This helps us to be more efficient. For many years, we have incorporated AI and machine learning into many of our client solutions as part of the usual delivery process for particular projects. In this respect, we have excellent traction with our pharmaceutical clients.
We also interact with hospitals, so care delivery organizations use data. For instance, we are collaborating with the University Hospital of Bielefeld's heart and diabetes center, Bad Oeyenhausen, as part of a landmark project. We are currently creating real-time support for heart surgeries using digital twins. Thus, with both their and our data, our technology, and AI models, we can provide the surgeon with real-time assistance to maximize the patient's outcome in terms of side effects, complications, and better rehabilitation.
Another example is the sick funds, which are under tremendous financial strain and are trying to cut costs. We digitize some of their processes for them. In Germany, we process hundreds of millions of invoices annually on their behalf, verifying that they are accurate and contain the correct deductions. We also streamline procedures. For instance, in collaboration with the biggest sick fund and a few other technology partners, we have digitized the midwives' administrative process so they can do everything digitally on-site while assisting the pregnant woman, eliminating the need for paper records. There are opportunities like this everywhere, and we are assisting the sick funds in using them to make better decisions and operate more effectively. We are concentrating on that since it is something that the healthcare system as a whole needs and requires – fresh concepts and new ideas by brave minds using technological progress.
EF: The financial and personnel sustainability of healthcare is crucial. What is your opinion of these two viewpoints, and how significant do you think it is that IQVIA participates in discussions that are influencing the direction of healthcare?
FW: We made the strategic choice to broaden our scope beyond the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries because we think it is crucial to be included in the discussion beyond. This is because we think we can contribute more and not just concentrate on one area. The cost of the sick fund in Germany will rise by about 1.84 up to 4.4 percent per person, plus an additional 0.2 percent for care. For a total sick fund rise in 2025 of 2.5 % per person, which is a substantial increase. It is the biggest rise in a long time. Many of our clients and board members in the secretary health insurance division have told me that this is not sustainable. One of the reasons for this is that there are extraneous costs and expenses in the system that should not be borne by the insured members. They are funded by the solidarity system rather than by taxpayer dollars.
As a result, the system has numerous uncontrollable expenses. The finance issue is one of the big challenges, but the other challenge is the government determining spending priorities. The second is the rising cost of services, including employment costs for hospitals, stationary care facilities, etc. The largest factor is personal expense per patient in the aging society, which is a growing amount that needs to be controlled. As a result, other areas of the organization must become more efficient. This can be achieved through digital procedures and process improvements. Germany has some of the highest per capita spending for health in the world, but when it comes to the size of the difference between lifespan and healthy life, we do not have the best results per capita. If I look at big European countries like Spain, France, or Italy, it is not that different. This indicates that there is potential for improving the way we spend our funds, which means we need insights about what truly works and where funds are being spent that do not produce results.
At IQVIA, we have experience and insights from other countries, but we also have the data and analytics to back up those opinions. We have also conducted research in Germany and around the world in the early stages to see how we can make the system more efficient while reducing costs by improving results, such as applying pharmaceutical therapies more wisely. It's good that we have a high level of generic usage. Then, there is the problem of certain supply chains and other issues arising. However, they still have a lot of poor medication problems or hospitalizations that could be prevented if f.ex. Pharmacotherapies were utilized more effectively. Patients could be even better monitored, for example, through digital disease management programs. There are technologies and insights we could provide to address these kinds of structural issues in how we organize healthcare.
EF: Are there any particular partnerships or success stories you might provide that demonstrate how an IQVIA is advancing the country, genuinely propelling it to success, and fostering greater innovation?
FW: The renowned cardiac and diabetes center is one of the stories where we examine ways to improve cardiac procedures to have better results, which is a very clear medical advantage. In this project, we employ those technologies for additional purposes, such as identifying rare diseases or assisting doctors in making treatment recommendations. Another example is that we are currently collaborating on the digitization of the administration, particularly in the non-hospital, non-pharmaceutical, and non-physician fields like physiotherapy and midwives. We process millions of invoices, and we look at automating those procedures by leveraging AI technologies in combination with OCR and NLP capabilities to extract information from the documents to make them easier to use and detect fraud. This is a topic discussed by the national police to look at how we can prevent fraud in healthcare. The usage of this data across different sick funds is still a challenge, so we have some regulatory issues there as well, but we are currently building the systems.
Another example is the exchange of documents between the hospital and the specialist or treating physician; the documents come as PDF documents. To streamline the process, we have created an NLP-based application that automatically extracts all of the clinical information from those documents and enters it straight into the doctor's system. Physicians often spend too many hours reviewing such records; instead, they now simply obtain the information and can view it on the patient's end in the electronic health record. Naturally, the PDF document remains in the background, but AI streamlines the procedure and saves time by relieving the doctors of some of their administrative duties, allowing them to spend more time with their patients. After all, our ultimate goal is to help patients live longer, better lives while minimizing costs.
Sick funds are heavily reliant on digitalization and data usage. In terms of care, the goal is to improve decision-making by making data usable and accessible during the course of therapy.
Another completely different example is the collaboration with the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Federal Reserve Bank of Germany, to automate the extraction of data from the ESG reports of large firms that are applying for credits from the Bundesbank, even though this has nothing to do with healthcare. This demonstrates the market's appreciation of the capabilities we can offer by fusing technology and data analytics.
Our vision and mission is to use modern technology intensively for healthcare. For instance, we raise awareness about prostate cancer. On game days, we target football stadiums for our awareness campaigns, and we can use technology to deliver messages to participants' digital devices. In rare disease cases, we inform patients that they might need to visit a doctor, or we create a digital patient journey for them, all while staying within legal limits of cause. We urge people to consult a doctor and employ social media-like technology to make healthcare more accessible. Additionally, this technology helps with the sometimes very difficult task of locating possible clinical trial volunteers. For this reason, we employ digital technology to help raise awareness, connect with healthcare professionals, and reach patients or potential patients.
In order to assist a company that has a new treatment for a very rare disease that affects about 100 people in Germany, we leveraged our data and analytics. Sometimes, the condition is hereditary, but in other circumstances, there are specific areas that would have a higher propensity; thus, we determined which regions have a larger chance of patients getting it. We then employed our own field force, which we contract for our clients, to visit doctors in those areas and essentially educate them on how to identify the disease. Over the course of six months, we were able to identify roughly nine individuals. When you take into account that this disease only affects about 100 people, it is not a modest number; it is enormous. Because we were able to determine which sectors were deserving of the investment through the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) in machine learning, this has been incredibly successful and efficient. To truly make a difference, these kinds of initiatives combine data, technology, and medical insights.
EF: When you think back on your time at IQVIA, what are your proudest accomplishments to date, and what do you hope to achieve in the years to come?
FW: I've been in charge in Germany since 2010, so I've been in the position for 14 years total. In addition to always being engaging, it has always presented challenges in a constructive way. IQVIA was more focused on data and consulting when I joined but was not focused on technology or the larger healthcare sector. We faced many difficulties over the years, including COVID-19, but we also had our share of difficulties. In the end, the team is what I am most proud of. Over the years, I believe we have been able to keep a solid team. In my opinion, the last ten to fifteen years have seen the biggest shift in IQVIA Germany. Without the team and our characteristics—innovativeness, growth emphasis, a highly collaborative approach, and a focus on solutions rather than problems—it would not have been feasible. That was helpful, I believe.
Being allowed to develop alongside the business has been a blessing. We currently have about 3500 employees in Germany and Austria, so I believe if I joined now, it would be considerably more difficult to come in and run the firm in this complex environment. It was about 300 when I started over, so the last ten years have seen a significant increase. The thing I am most proud of is how well-known IQVIA is in the industry. Rather than being restricted to the pharmaceutical industry, it is now viewed as a component of the larger solution. In my opinion, we have no idea where we'll be in five years. I never would have imagined the company's current state five years ago.
Thus, there are several prospects in the future. We will be even more important to the system, and we have, hopefully, earned that by helping to stabilize the healthcare system. Many people are concerned that the system's cost balance will become intolerable; it would be great if we could help manage and balance that aspect within the next five years. Although we are making small progress every day, it would also be great if we could help people get even better care. What we term public health is one of the things we currently have intensifying, along with clinical research. We are now discussing how we can support Germany's public health system's digitalization. That would have significant systemic implications.
