AI-based Evidence Mapping to Enable Value-Based Procurement

Vamstar has launched a new product that provides more clinical information and transparency in the procurement process, which also facilitates supplier evaluation under a value-based procurement framework. The new offering is part of the Vamstar Exchange platform. It features a ranking of the body of evidence and the evidence-based clinical study landscape analysis to enable well-informed decision-making.

Why is this important?

Traditionally, price, availability, sustainability (assumptions) and longevity of the supplier have been used to choose between devices and other products with similar technical specifications. Clinical evidence from the scientific and medical community can be quickly incorporated to make evidence-based decisions. It can be quite time-consuming to research all the scientific literature and to identify which sources are most reliable and which are more biased. Therefore, Vamstar has created a new product. It is powered with Vamstar’s Artificial Intelligence technology, as part of its Exchange platform that includes clinical evidence by incorporating a scoring mechanism and summaries of the available clinical evidence.

What constitutes clinical evidence?

Although randomized clinical trials are the gold standard in medicine, medical devices are usually studied in retrospective observational studies, rather than clinical trials. Initial experiences are often written after a new device has been used in a clinic for approximately ten patients. In addition:

• Case reports usually contribute little towards wider clinical evidence, given the small sample sizes. However, this can be used as proof-of-concept and is relevant for (unexpected) adverse events reporting.
• Laboratory tests are inexpensive, relatively quick to perform and allow for unbiased comparison between different devices. However, due to the lack of real-world clinical settings, they usually contribute little towards clinical evidence and more towards proof-of-concept and device specification comparisons.
• Cost-benefit analyses are extremely context and region dependent. They provide more information about concomitant medicine and therapies, and might be relevant to consider before acquiring large numbers of the device.

Therefore, Vamstar deploys Artificial Intelligence and researches clinical evidence from a totality of clinical trials, observational studies, initial experiences, case reports, lab tests, cost-benefit-analyses, journal publications, and systematic reviews.

How does it work?

Vamstar utilizes its proprietary AI technology and clinical evidence scoring system, which includes:

• Study-specific scoring based on the study type, size, duration and other parameters. This is based on various characteristics that rate the level of clinical evidence and give an indication of the quality of the research.
• Study-specific scoring based on the journal, availability, funding and conflict of interest. This is a study-specific score that indicates what kind of journal the study was published in, what the conflict of interests and potential biases of the researchers are, and whether the study is accessible to the general public.
• A market-specific score which is device-specific and based on availability, brochure details, complications and other parameters. Every device has its own market score that indicates whether the device is available, how many clinical evidence sources there are, what product information is available, what the approval status is, and whether any malfunctions are reported.

The information from all studies that are available on a certain device is combined and weighted to assess a conclusion regarding the clinical evidence for the device. This is coupled with Vamstar’s real-time market intelligence on unit volumes, adoption rates, and average sales prices to provide a well-informed view of the market, prior to any decision on new suppliers.

To find out more, join Vamstar at the 4th European Value-Based Procurement Conference being held on December 15, 2022, in Brussels. Several members of Vamstar’s senior leadership team will be available for meetings.