Structure and content of a taxonomy to support the use of real-world evidence by health technology assessment practitioners and healthcare decision makers

This is the third in a series of papers that consider the barriers to optimal use of real-world evidence (RWE) in health technology assessment (HTA) and how to overcome them. The work was carried out as part of EUreccA 2025, in particular with the RWE workstream embodied within that collaboration. In Paper 1 we described the reasoning and process that led us to develop practical tools to support RWE use, including this taxonomy. The taxonomy classifies questions that are typically addressed using real-world data (RWD) in HTA and the data sources typically used to address these questions. In Paper 2 we explained the methods used to develop the taxonomy and other outputs from this work. In this paper, we describe the taxonomy itself. For as many of the pairings as possible, we have provided links to advice and methods on how to address the associated question using those data. We have also provided links to examples of RWE use in practical decision making to answer the questions posed. Our work is not complete, but we believe it is sufficient to demonstrate the value of such a taxonomy and information source if it is completed and curated as a ‘wiki’ by the community that would use it.