Last month, PicnicHealth welcomed Rachael Thomas Higgins to the team as our new Chief Commercial Officer. Rachael brings over 20 years of commercial expertise to PicnicHealth, most recently serving as Vice President of Commercial Sales at CorEvitas through its acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific. In her past roles, which also include leadership positions at CircuitClinical, TriNetX, and Covance, she has successfully defined go-to-market strategy and driven growth for life science solutions.
We recently sat down with Rachel to talk about her journey to PicnicHealth and her thoughts on the observational research space.
1. What sparked your interest in joining PicnicHealth?
I love what PicnicHealth is doing. The way observational research is done today is broken – not only making these types of studies complex and costly for life science companies, but also cumbersome to patients. Noga and Troy [PicnicHealth co-founders, and CEO and CTO, respectively] recognized that breaking down data silos can enable more streamlined and comprehensive research as well as give patients greater ownership of their health. Leveraging innovative technologies, the PicnicHealth team has been able to bring observational research into the future while keeping the patient at the forefront.
2. How do you think PicnicHealth is disrupting the observational research space?
Traditional methods are not always the best methods.This is especially true for observational research, which to date has often been run like a site-based intervention trial or with off-the-shelf data. These methods lead to high loss-to-follow up rates, data gaps, and burden on everyone involved.
PicnicHealth is uniquely able to virtually enroll a patient into a study and capture their full past and future health journey – from all of their clinical encounters across the United States. Since we consent patients into studies, we’re able to work directly with them to administer surveys as well as collect other forms of active data. Our data collection and curation methods also offer us the agility to adapt to evolving studies and explore new concepts effortlessly. Achieving this level of completeness and flexibility requires a highly sophisticated and purpose-built engine.
3. What does “innovation” mean to you and why is it important in observational research?
Innovation is the key to evolving. Observational research needs innovation so that it can be faster, more efficient, and less complex. This is why technology and artificial intelligence is a big focus for us at PicnicHealth; it enables us to do things like enroll patients from anywhere, gather insights from unstructured data, rapidly pull data from multiple sources, and monitor study progress. With these tools, our epidemiologists and data scientists are able to run observational studies more efficiently than was ever possible before.
4. Based on your experiences, how do you see the life science industry evolving over the next five years?
I see the role of technology continuing to increase. There is a growing need from stakeholders for more, high-quality evidence, and the go-to sources of data don’t have the granularity, longitudinality, or completeness to cut it anymore. At the same time, site-based study models are too expensive, time-consuming, and inflexible. Technology will be the key to improving the speed and accuracy of research.
Patient centricity will also continue to be an important factor in running studies. There are greater demands for representation in research to ensure that results are generalizable to the population that is affected. It’s also clear that patient questionnaires on quality of life measures add critical information to the understanding of diseases and treatments. Increasing diversity and engagement are only possible if research takes a patient-focused approach.
Want to hear more about how PicnicHealth is radically simplifying observational research? Meet Rachael at ISPOR on May 5-8, or set up some time to chat here.
patients onboarded to platform
medical visits processed
facilities provided medical records
healthcare providers
research programs
published posters and manuscripts
partnerships with top 30 pharma
Discover how PicnicHealth data powered medical research in 2021
New methods to improve the identification of lupus nephritis patients in RWD using narrative text extraction were presented at the American College of Rheumatology Convergence virtual conference.
Ultragenyx and PicnicHealth presented preliminary data at the International Network for Fatty Acid Oxidation Research and Management (INFORM) LC-FAOD conference, showcasing the power of linking medical records to patient reported outcomes to better understand the complexities in LC-FAOD care.
We joined Roche-Genentech and other key researchers to introduce a longitudinal, patient-centric Hemophilia A real-world dataset that features abstraction of data points from medical records at scale and supplementation with patient-reported outcomes at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting.
Also at ASH 2021, Roche-Genentech and our research partners presented new findings looking specifically at mild and moderate hemophilia A patients found in PicnicHealth’s RWD cohort to better understand disease burden and healthcare resource utilization in this historically underrepresented patient group.
This year, experts from PicnicHealth joined podcasts, webisodes, virtual summits and much more to speak to the importance of patient-centric approaches when building complete, deep real-world datasets.
CMO Dan Drozd joined The Evidence Base to discuss how to build and measure data completeness
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BBC Storyworks and Roche featured Noga Leviner and her medical journey in “The power of partnerships”
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CEO and Co-founder Noga Leviner joined our partners Komodo Health to discuss patient-centric RWD in “For the Health of It”
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PicnicHealth experts joined Arsenal Advisors in 3 summits to highlight our research partnerships
(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)
38% Female
15 providers / patient
7.5 years of data / patient
(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)
patients onboarded across 19 conditions
medical visits processed
healthcare providers
Facilities provided medical records
Change Champions onboarded
Research programs
published posters and manuscripts
partnerships with top 30 pharma
At ASH 2022, Genentech, a member of the Roche group, and our research partners presented their study examining the epidemiology and bleeding phenotype in females with mild Hemophilia A (HA), a minority group that is poorly characterized, compared with a cohort of males with mild HA.
At EHA 2022, Novartis used PicnicHealth’s real-world data to characterize sickle cell disease and burden of illness in the United States.
Genentech leveraged the FlywheelMS cohort to describe COVID-19 vaccination patterns and COVID-19 outcomes among people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and in subgroups of pwMS, including by disease-modifying therapy (DMT) status.
We partnered with Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease to help identify flares in Lupus Nephritis patients by combining structured and unstructured medical records with lab data.
Cohort Overview. Understand patient healthcare utilization throughout disease history with ability to probe for meaningful mentions and events.
Sickle cell (SC) is the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States. Red blood cells become rigid and shaped like crescent moons, preventing oxygen from getting to parts of the body. This can cause fatigue, severe pain, organ damage or stroke.
Addition of Narrative Text Abstraction to ICD-Based Abstraction Significantly ImprovesIdentification of Lupus Nephritis in Real-World Data
Join our early breast cancer registry to be counted and share your story with research.
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List the names of all the doctors, hospitals, and other facilities your loved one visits regularly, along with those they have visited in the past. Try to go back as far as you can, striving for at least the last 5-10 years, but do your best. Even if you can’t remember them all, having a strong baseline can help you quickly identify gaps in records.
It is important to make sure that you are fully empowered to make decisions on behalf of your loved one with Alzheimer’s. Your relationship status with the patient may not be enough to legally give you access to your loved one's medical information. It is a good idea to talk to an expert about securing special legal status, such as Power of Attorney (POA), a legal document that allows an individual to name someone as their decision maker should they no longer be able to make decisions on their own.
It’s important to have all of your loved one’s medical records together in one spot. This makes it much easier for you and your loved one’s physicians to accurately map the patient’s medical journey and more easily share information between doctors. Fortunately, tools exist to make record management and access simple. A free resource like PicnicHealth helps you collect and organize all of this information. PicnicHealth’s intuitive timeline allows you to pinpoint data across the medical history, eliminating your need for keeping heavy binders filled with paper records or keeping track of multiple software portal logins.
The better you understand your loved one's medical history, the better you can advocate on their behalf. Access and understanding of this information will help you to ask informed questions with physicians. Through regular communication backed by the data in the medical records, you can help your loved one’s care team develop a more successful care plan.
Learn more about PicnicHealth’s commitment to the Alzheimer’s community and the Alzheimer’s Association
Learn MoreWhen you’re juggling appointment times and insurance claims, putting a robust support system together might not strike you as the most urgent task. Investing the time to cultivate relationships with people can turn to in times of need will pay dividends. The next time you need a last-minute ride or just someone to listen, you won’t be on your own.
There are many condition-specific support groups and support groups for caregivers generally in person or online. In addition to the encouragement and empathy they provide, support groups can be a helpful source of tips, resources, and recommendations for navigating caregiving.
The backbone of effective caregiving is organization. Keep medical information, appointment schedules, and medication lists in order. Use a planner or a digital service like PicnicHealth to stay on top of your responsibilities. This attention to detail can prevent future complications and reduce day-to-day stress.
We’ve seen incredible breakthroughs in treatment over the past couple of years, powered by patients and their caregivers participating in research. Stay in the loop about the latest in medical advancements and available resources that could benefit your loved one. Whether it’s a new therapy option or a community service that aids independence, being informed can make a world of difference in the quality of care you provide.
It may seem self-centered to focus on self-care—but when you feel good, you can be a better caregiver. Whether it’s exercise, a mindfulness practice, a soak in the bath, or just time to rest when you need it, carve out those moments in the day when you can unwind, reset, and stay healthy mentally and physically. Think of it as building up your reserves of kindness, patience, and understanding—which can only benefit your loved one. No one can pour from an empty cup.
Easily manage all of your loved one's medical records and contribute to ongoing Alzheimer's research with PicnicHealth.
Learn More(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)
38% Female
15 providers / patient
7.5 years of data / patient
(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)
We hope you found this session informative! Sign up for PicnicHealth’s Alzheimer’s research program below.
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Explore the essential takeaways from Victoria's Webinar, along with some resources that she shared.
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