The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's (NLHBI) Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Asthma recommends the
Asthma Control Test™ (ACT™) to determine the severity of the disease and/or the level of control. The new
guidelines describe ACT "as a valid instrument" for the assessment and monitoring of asthma.
"This is an example of how scientifically valid patient-reported outcome (PRO) tools are used in the development
and commercialization of new treatments as well as to measure and monitor the effectiveness of those treatments in
clinical practice," according to Mark Kosinski, MA, QualityMetric Senior Scientist and Executive Director of
the Outcomes Analytics Division. "It is also indicative of the vital role regulatory and advocacy groups have
in getting the patient's voice better represented in healthcare decision-making."
To learn more, please view this ACT Case Study
(PDF) online. Please visit the QualityMetric Health Outcomes Solutions website if you are interested in licensing ACT.
You may access the NHLBI guidelines at their website (reference pages 38 and 80).
The PROMIS approach of combining modern psychometric and computerized dynamic methods to achieve more practical and precise patient-reported outcome
(PRO) measurement appears to be on the right track. This according to John E. Ware Jr., PhD, founder and CEO of QualityMetric Health Outcomes Solutions and
principal developer of the SF-36® Health Survey and family of "SF" generic, disease-specific and dynamic patient-reported outcome (PRO) surveys.
Dr. Ware summarizes progress to date for The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) in a recent article in the Mapi Research
Trust PRO-Newsletter. PROMIS is a 5-year project that is part of the US National Institutes of Health Roadmap Initiative. Ware states that:
"Much like the temperature scales constructed by Celsius and Fahrenheit were standardized and cross-calibrated hundreds of years ago...," legacy tools
and improved PROMIS metrics have the potential today provide the criteria and standards necessary for their proper use and meaningful interpretation
going forward.
QualityMetric Health Outcomes Solutions has been awarded a
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health's
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for $2 million to advance developments in
patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures for adults with asthma.
John E. Ware, Jr., PhD, founder/CEO of QualityMetric Health Outcomes Solutions,
releases the User's Manual for the SF-36v2™ Health Survey - Second Edition.
Part technical manual and part historical text, the User's Manual for the SF-36v2™ Health Survey
is a must-read for healthcare decision-makers and researchers, and the perfect addition to any
health outcome professional's library.
09-28-2007
John E. Ware, Jr. PhD, founder and CEO of QualityMetric Health Outcomes Solutions
has accepted an invitation to join the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and
Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Health Science Policy Council. Established in May 2004 as an
advisory Council to the Board of Directors, the mission of the ISPOR Health Science Policy
Council is to advise the Society on key science research and research policy issues in
pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research. Council membership is composed of past ISPOR
presidents, recipients of the Avedis Donabedian Lifetime Achievement Award, and key thought
leaders and research experts selected by the Council and Board of Directors. Dr. Ware was
the first recipient of the Avedis Donabedian Award in 2003.
Magellan Health Services, Inc., the nation's leading manager of behavioral health care,
and QualityMetric Incorporated, are collaborating on the design of an outcomes assessment
system to address the relationship and co-morbidity that exists between behavioral and
physical health. The system will rely on QualityMetric's existing health status tools,
expanding the focus toward behavioral health outcomes and demonstrated improvement in members'
health and productivity. Click here to view the press release.
For information on our Company, to speak with a QualityMetric Scientist or Outcomes Expert, or
for general information on patient-reported health outcomes and their application in health care,
please contact:
Landmark Articles Published By QualityMetric Scientists Report Improvements in Short-Form Health Status Measures and Establish Criteria for Future Development
