Answers
The questions commercial data teams ask us.
One question per page, answered in the first paragraph. For the short version of everything else, see the FAQ.
23 answers · Updated
Pharma data quality
How do you count unique patients across specialty pharmacies and hub feeds without double-counting? You usually can't get one exact unique-patient count across specialty pharmacies, because each pharmacy de-identifies patients its own way. Read the answer How do you find duplicate and mismatched HCP records across Veeva, IQVIA, and the warehouse? Test the identifiers before you match on them, then test the match. Validate every NPI and DEA by its check digit, check that each feed's prescriber keys resolve to exactly one master record, and surface unmatched records for stewardship instead of dropping them. Read the answer How do you validate Open Payments (Sunshine Act) data before you submit it to CMS? Test the file against the reporting rule, not against its own history. Before the March 31 deadline, check every physician record for NPI, license state, and specialty, every covered product for an NDC or device identifier, every payment date, and the de minimis logic against that year's CMS thresholds. Read the answer Is an NBRx decline real, or caused by late, incomplete, or restated data? Treat an NBRx decline as a data problem until five checks pass, in order: the file arrived once and on time, it is complete against its control count or history, overlapping periods match your last kept delivery, the payer and specialty mix did not jump, and the report used the current alignment version. Read the answer What should we test on every IQVIA, Symphony, specialty pharmacy, and 867 feed before it loads? Test every delivery for five things before it reaches a report: that it arrived on time and only once, that it is complete against the vendor's control count or its own history, that no column was renamed, that units did not change, and that past periods did not move. Read the answer What should we validate in Veeva CRM data before it feeds field reports? Validate the relationships, not the formats. Veeva CRM activity arrives daily and well structured, so its failures sit at the joins: calls logged against accounts missing from the account master, prescriber keys that resolve to zero or two master records, and activity and performance computed on different alignment versions. Read the answer Why did last quarter's pharma sales numbers change, and was it performance or the data? Last quarter's pharma sales numbers usually change because the vendor restated them. Syndicated sales data is part actual, part projection, and vendors rerun recent months when better inputs arrive. Read the answer Why do generic data quality tools miss bad NPI, NDC, DEA, and HCPCS codes? Because generic tools check shape, not the rules each code is built on. A transposed NPI is still ten digits, so a pattern check passes it; only the Luhn check digit catches it. Read the answer Why don't our specialty pharmacy, 867, and sales numbers match? They rarely match because each feed counts a different thing: different date definitions, different weeks, units versus packages, and NDCs at different levels. Read the answer
Pharma operations
Does 21 CFR Part 11 or GxP apply to our commercial pharma data? Mostly no. 21 CFR Part 11 covers electronic records that an FDA regulation requires you to keep, plus records you submit to FDA. Read the answer How do you add a second brand or indication without rebuilding the commercial data platform? You add a second brand without a rebuild when the first sits on conformed physician, payer, product, time, and territory dimensions, so the new brand adds rows and fact tables, not a schema. Read the answer How do you replace a commercial pharma data vendor without breaking reporting? Take the work over feed by feed, not on a cutover date. Inventory the feeds and the reports people read, confirm you own the code, credentials, and cloud account, put tests on each feed before you change it, then run old and new side by side until the numbers reconcile. Read the answer How do you test territory alignment and incentive compensation data before payout? Test alignment as a relationship, not a column. Before the comp run, confirm every prescriber resolves to one master record, every zip and territory exists in the current hierarchy, territory totals still tie to the national total, and activity and sales use the same alignment version. Read the answer Our launch is three months away and the data platform is behind. What do we prioritize? DataKitchen recommends building only the weekly reports the field and leadership read in launch week: launch and forecast tracking, field activity and performance, incentive comp, and specialty pharmacy dispense for a specialty brand. Read the answer Should an emerging pharma build, hire, bring in a dedicated team, or use open source for commercial data? Pick the model that leaves you owning the code and feed knowledge when people leave. Read the answer What commercial data do we need in place 12 months before our first launch? Twelve months out, you need your core feeds landing in your own cloud, your prescriber master and alignment decided, and a first tested star schema in front of analysts. Read the answer What should a commercial data vendor file specification and acceptance agreement include? A commercial data vendor file specification should state the grain, the delivery cadence and window, a control record with row counts and amount totals, event and calendar definitions, units and identifier formats, a restatement and correction policy, notice before any layout change, the tests a file must pass to be accepted, and how fast a rejected file gets fixed. Read the answer What should a small or midsize pharma expect to spend on commercial data and analytics? Expect most of the bill to be people, not cloud or software. Six fully loaded commercial data FTEs in Boston or the Bay Area run $1.5 million to $2 million a year. Read the answer What should our commercial data partner deliver every month? Every month your commercial data partner should show feeds delivered on schedule, defects opened, closed, and still open, change requests and how fast they shipped, cost against the agreed rate, documentation brought current, and proof that the code and tests still live in your repository. Read the answer
Pharma platform
Should a small pharma build its commercial data warehouse on Snowflake or Databricks? Either works, so pick the one your team already runs. DataKitchen builds commercial pharma platforms on both and has published no evidence that one is cheaper or more accurate for this work. Read the answer What is AI data modernization for commercial pharma, and is our data ready for it? AI data modernization is building the system an AI-first data team works in: agents on top of your existing warehouse, with a real repo, real tests, and a deploy path. Read the answer What should a regulated pharma team look for in data observability and DataOps tools? Look for tests that run inside your warehouse so rows never leave, a recorded history of every test result and disposition, lineage from vendor feed to report, version-controlled promotion from development to production, and a deployment you control. Read the answer Which data vendors and platforms does a small pharma commercial team actually use? A small pharma commercial stack draws from six layers: syndicated prescription data (IQVIA, ICON/Symphony), specialty pharmacy and distributor feeds, Veeva CRM, a prescriber master such as Veeva Network, a Snowflake or Databricks warehouse, and Tableau or Power BI. Read the answer