Decision support

Compare standards by the job they do

Place up to three profiles side by side. Compare their architectural role, lifecycle reach, and first limitation to test. No single standard covers every layer.

Choose profiles

1 of 3 selected

ICH M14Governance framework

Compare roles before choosing an implementation.

The useful question is not “Which standard wins?” It is “Which job must this part of the architecture perform, and what remains uncovered?”

  1. Start with the job

    Decide whether you need guidance, a domain payload, exchange, semantics, governance, or a reusable release.

  2. Map lifecycle reach

    Use the matrix to see where each profile has a direct role. A filled cell is coverage, not a quality score.

  3. Test the boundary

    Read what each option leaves unresolved before judging maturity or implementation fit.

Review lifecycle coverage and practical fit.

Read left to right. Lifecycle reach comes first; a maturity label never overrides a scope mismatch.

Where each profile contributes directly

Coverage shows a recorded role at that readiness stage. It does not imply end-to-end implementation.

Readiness-stage coverage for ICH M14 General Principles on Planning, Designing, Analysing, and Reporting of Non-interventional Studies That Utilise Real-World Data for Safety Assessment of Medicines
ProfilePlanAcquireHarmonizeExchangeLearn + reuse
ICH M14Governance frameworkICH M14 General Principles on Planning, Designing, Analysing, and Reporting of Non-interventional Studies That Utilise Real-World Data for Safety Assessment of Medicines has a direct role in Plan.ICH M14 General Principles on Planning, Designing, Analysing, and Reporting of Non-interventional Studies That Utilise Real-World Data for Safety Assessment of Medicines has a direct role in Acquire.ICH M14 General Principles on Planning, Designing, Analysing, and Reporting of Non-interventional Studies That Utilise Real-World Data for Safety Assessment of Medicines has a direct role in Harmonize.ICH M14 General Principles on Planning, Designing, Analysing, and Reporting of Non-interventional Studies That Utilise Real-World Data for Safety Assessment of Medicines has no direct role recorded in Exchange.ICH M14 General Principles on Planning, Designing, Analysing, and Reporting of Non-interventional Studies That Utilise Real-World Data for Safety Assessment of Medicines has a direct role in Learn + reuse.
Direct role recordedNo direct role recorded

What each option does not cover

These are design boundaries, not faults. Use them to identify the companion layers your architecture still needs.

ICH M14

Stage boundary
No direct role is recorded for Exchange.
Known limitation
The guideline is focused on non-interventional safety assessment, not every effectiveness question, and conformance cannot make an inadequate source complete or remove unmeasured confounding.

Check the fit and source behind the map

Use the official source, version, and limitation together. A higher maturity label does not erase a scope mismatch.

Detailed comparison of ICH M14 General Principles on Planning, Designing, Analysing, and Reporting of Non-interventional Studies That Utilise Real-World Data for Safety Assessment of Medicines
AssessmentICH M14ICH M14 General Principles on Planning, Designing, Analysing, and Reporting of Non-interventional Studies That Utilise Real-World Data for Safety Assessment of Medicines
Purpose & coverage

Planning, data-source evaluation, study design, variable validation, bias and confounding assessment, analysis, sensitivity work, and reporting for non-interventional medicine-safety studies using RWD.

Best fitRegulatory pharmacoepidemiology and post-authorization safety studies where routinely collected data must support an explicit, reviewable evidence argument.

Readiness stages
PlanAcquireHarmonizeLearn + reuse
AI-ready contributionExplicit source-suitability, validation, and bias controls improve trustworthy feature and label design, but model development, calibration, transportability, and human review remain separate work.
First limitation to testThe guideline is focused on non-interventional safety assessment, not every effectiveness question, and conformance cannot make an inadequate source complete or remove unmeasured confounding.
Maturity

Scaling

New final ICH guideline entering region-specific implementation

Sources & links