As both RWE and HEOR functions have grown in department size and importance in recent years, new challenges have emerged, resulting in potential duplication and redundancy between departments. Several steps can and should be taken to strengthen collaborative practices between RWE and HEOR departments. This session will review potential sources of role confusion, key criteria for organizational excellence and role clarity, and key findings from a pharmaceutical industry HEOR benchmarking project, including strategies, challenges, and opportunities (note learnings can be applied across industries).