Verana Health announces release of Qdata non-muscle invasive bladder cancer real-world data module

Verana Health introduces its second urology Qdata module to provide high quality real-world evidence from 50,000 de-identified individuals with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in the American Urological Association’s Quality Registry.

Verana Health^®, a company focused on improving the quality of digital health real-world data (RWD), has announced they are offering a urology Qdata^® module aimed at supporting clinical research on non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Derived from de-identified EHR data of 50,000 individuals with NMIBC in the American Urological Association’s Quality Registry, Qdata NMIBC can enable greater insights into the progression of the disease and how it can be most effectively treated.

Bladder cancer ranks as the sixth most common cancer in the US and the ninth most common worldwide. Of all bladder cancer diagnosed, 70% is non-muscle invasive and early detection is associated with higher survival rates. There is a particular urgency to better understand individuals in the intermediate- and high-risk categories of NMIBC, and to find new therapies, as there is a nationwide shortage of a vital component of the intravesical therapy commonly used to prevent the progression of NMIBC.

Verana Health has forged an exclusive partnership with the American Urological Association (AUA) to de-identify, curate, and analyze EHR data from the AUA’s Quality Registry (AQUA). The AQUA Registry is the world’s largest clinical RWD registry for urology and includes eight years of longitudinal data from more than 2,100 healthcare providers, representing more than 75 million de-identified patient encounters from nearly 10 million de-identified patients.

Qdata NMIBC is based upon de-identified RWD of 50,000 people diagnosed with NMIBC within the AQUA Registry. Verana Health employs its VeraQ population health data engine that utlizes artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing to curate and bring meaning to the large amounts of structured and unstructured EHR data. Key variables extracted from unstructured clinician notes include: diagnosis date, treatments, recurrences, documented T stage and tumor grade for risk determination.

The new Qdata module provides an insight into patient information from the perspective of urologists, the primary caregivers for individuals diagnosed with this condition, and is expected to reflect earlier-stage information compared to that found in claims or EHR from oncologists. It is hoped this will facilitate a more comprehensive view of the NMIBC patient journey and disease progression over time, including before the condition progresses to muscle invasive or metastatic disease, to inform therapeutic strategies.

“Qdata NMIBC can help provide the high-quality RWD needed for life sciences research and the development and utilization of drugs to more effectively treat this disease at its earlier stages,” commented Sujay Jadhav, CEO of Verana Health. “AUA and Verana Health are helping to better enable NMIBC researchers to gain greater insights into the progression of this disease and how it can be most effectively treated to reduce recurrences. The result will be to help improve patient and population outcomes and reduce healthcare utilization.”

Qdata NMIBC is the company’s second urology module, and further modules are planned for overactive bladder, benign prostatic hyperplasia and other urologic conditions.