--- title: COVID-19 RWD Waterfall Strategy description: Researchers are reliant upon real-world data (RWD) linked from open and closed claims to study detailed COVID-19 patient journeys. Learn more! image: https://blog.healthverity.com/hubfs/COVID-19%20Open%20vs.%20Closed%20Claims%20-%20Linkedin.png --- Announcing HealthVerity Precision Event Alerts, a next-generation physician alerting solution. 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Domestic COVID-19 cases are rising in 41 states, and pharma manufacturers are urgently conducting critical research and development (R&D) to stunt the impact of breakthrough cases among the vaccinated, as well as provide some form of futureproofing for new, more dangerous variants. To better inform critical R&D efforts, pharma and government agencies are reliant upon real-world data (RWD) to study detailed COVID-19 patient journeys, honing in on questions such as: What is the extent and impact of breakthrough infection among the fully vaccinated? [Will patients need a booster shot and when](https://blog.healthverity.com/is-pharma-right-about-the-need-for-a-covid-19-booster-shot)? How easily are vaccinated patients transmitting the virus? What pre-existing conditions in a vaccinated patient’s medical history lead to a higher risk of hospitalization and mortality from COVID-19?  Pandemics create a level of urgency to achieve a global strategy, but researchers are traditionally stifled by [the lack of accurate, un-siloed data](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/opinion/covid-data-vaccines.html) that is crucial to uncovering real-world evidence (RWE). One approach that has emerged to overcome these data hurdles is to link and synthesize datasets that encompass both [open and closed claims](https://blog.healthverity.com/open-claims-vs-closed-payer-claims), each of which have unique benefits that each describe aspects of the longitudinal patient journey. This waterfall strategy, achieved by leveraging a combination of the near real-time yet long tailed nature of open claims data with the richness of slightly lagged closed claims data can be a potent tool in the fight for effective care strategies. ### What are the differences between open and closed claims? Open claims are generated from a broader set of data sources, including medical claims clearinghouses, pharmacy systems, labs, hospital chargemaster and EMR software vendors, whereas [closed claims](https://blog.healthverity.com/removing-gaps-in-the-patient-journey-with-closed-payer-claims) are generally derived from health insurers (payer) and pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs). Open claims provide insight into the patient journey on a near real-time basis, often from yesterday, and generally over a longer period of time but only for the transactions in the available data ecosystem. Alternatively, closed claims offer a near complete view of medical and pharmacy activity but only during a patients’ period of enrollment with health insurance providers available in the data ecosystem. When blended in for the near term, open claims offer a far greater breadth of data types while closed claims can fill gaps in care. Over the long term, closed claims offer a comprehensive view of the patient, although often lagged by 90 days, while open claims can fill gaps in care during periods when payer data is unavailable or a patient has moved between commercial, Medicare or Medicaid coverage. ### What are the key benefits of RWD open vs closed claims for COVID-19? Open claims: - Vaccine administration can be linked to later diagnoses of COVID-19 breakthrough cases - Accurately linked open claims data lends a broader, long-term view of the patient, including which pre-existing conditions could have impacted hospitalization, long-haul symptoms and mortality rates among COVID-19 patients - Open claims COVID-19 data is more readily available in the near real-time than closed claims data, due to data lag, making it an advantageous source for urgency-minded R&D teams - COVID-19 lab sequencing data that is otherwise unavailable to physicians and patients can be linked to explore the impact of variants Closed claims: - Closed claims data captures all medical inpatient, outpatient and pharmacy transactions while the patient is insured with a provider, with the exception of cash transactions. Therefore, closed claims data is instrumental in studying the inner workings of the patient journey - Closed claims data often captures which specialists have been treating patients and the associated conditions that may have contributed to COVID-19 symptoms in infected COVID-19 patients or “long haulers” - Closed claims allow for evaluation of the total cost of COVID-treatment care - Closed claims sources can be linked to follow patients across a combination of Commercial, Medicare and Medicaid carriers ### What is the importance of linking open and closed claims related to COVID-19? By linking and synthesizing open and closed claims related to COVID-19, researchers can better study the longitudinal patient journey over a longer time horizon. This longitudinality is crucial in analyzing the virus, even as new variants emerge and breakthrough cases and re-infections occur.  Partnering with HealthVerity [HealthVerity Marketplace](https://healthverity.com/solutions/healthverity-marketplace/) manages the largest US healthcare data ecosystem, including closed claims for more than 150 health insurers and nearly 100 million COVID-19 tested, diagnosed, vaccinated or sequenced patients. If you are a pharma organization or government agency and would like to learn how interoperable RWD managed within the HealthVerity data ecosystem and beyond can contribute to crucial R&D in the battle against COVID-19, fill out the form below, email us at marketing@healthverity.com or [contact us](https://healthverity.com/contact/)! ###### Category - [Solutions & Best Practices](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/solutions-best-practices) - [Trends & Insights](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/trends-insights) - [HEOR](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/heor) - [Marketplace (RWD)](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/marketplace-rwd) - [Thought Leadership](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/thought-leadership) - [Industry Updates](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/industry-updates) - [Open & Closed Claims](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/open-closed-claims) - [Case Studies](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/case-studies) - [Commercial Pharma](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/commercial-pharma) - [Government](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/government) - [AI](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/ai) - [eXOs](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/exos) - [Audiences](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/audiences) - [taXonomy Pathways](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/taxonomy-pathways) - [Clinical Notes](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/clinical-notes) - [Rare Diseases](https://blog.healthverity.com/tag/rare-diseases) ###### Popular Post - [The GLP-1 trend: What the real-world data reveals](https://blog.healthverity.com/the-glp-1-surge-what-the-real-world-data-reveals) - [GLP-1 trends 2025: real-world data, patient outcomes & future therapies](https://blog.healthverity.com/glp-1-trends-2025-real-world-data-patient-outcomes-future-therapies) - [Open claims vs. closed payer claims: What’s the difference?](https://blog.healthverity.com/open-claims-vs-closed-payer-claims) - [An integrated approach for deeper insight with both open and closed claims data](https://blog.healthverity.com/an-integrated-approach-for-deeper-insight-with-both-open-and-closed-claims-data) - [GLP‑1 real‑world data for obesity: A new standard for metabolic care](https://blog.healthverity.com/glp-1-real-world-data-for-obesity-a-new-standard-for-metabolic-care) ###### Subscribe ### Similar Blogs [![A guide to optimizing real-world data: Electronic medical records](https://blog.healthverity.com/hs-fs/hubfs/a-guide-to-optimizing-real-world-data-electronic-medical-records.png?width=352&name=a-guide-to-optimizing-real-world-data-electronic-medical-records.png)](https://blog.healthverity.com/electronic-medical-records) #### [A guide to optimizing real-world data: Electronic medical records](https://blog.healthverity.com/electronic-medical-records) By [HealthVerity](https://blog.healthverity.com/author/healthverity) 13 August 2024 The healthcare industry has moved away from paper charts and file folders in favor of electronic... 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