Unlocking the Full Patient Journey: How PHARMO’s Linked Real-World Data Transforms Clinical Epidemiology

In an era where real-world evidence is increasingly sought for regulatory decisions, safety monitoring, and comparative effectiveness research, the PHARMO Data Network stands out as a uniquely rich longitudinal resource. Built from linked electronic healthcare records across the Netherlands, PHARMO supports comprehensive insights into medication use, clinical outcomes, and patient pathways that are often inaccessible in isolated data sources.

Research challenge

Traditional real-world healthcare databases typically capture data from only one part of the healthcare system—for example, pharmacy dispensing, general practitioner (GP) visits, or hospital admissions. This siloed structure can make it difficult to:

• Reconstruct the complete patient journey across care settings
• Understand temporal relationships between medication exposure and clinical outcomes
• Capture laboratory test results, referrals, and clinical diagnoses all in one place
• Study complex outcomes such as cancer staging, pregnancy outcomes, or rare adverse events