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industry news

Direct-to-consumer communication by pharmaceutical companies ? Europeans deserve better

FDA Final Guidance on Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) Measures: Use in Medical Product Development to Support Labeling Claims

Employers plan to shift more health-care costs to workers, survey reports By David S. Hilzenrath

Characteristics of Published Comparative Effectiveness Studies of Medication by Michael Hochman, MD; Danny McCormick, MD, MPH

International survey on willingness-to-pay (WTP) for one additional QALY gained: what is the threshold of cost effectiveness?

Health Care Reform — Where Do We Go from Here?

"Interpreting Hazards: The Increasing Importance of "Antidote to Anecdote" in Managed Care" by Fairman et al

"Is "Value-Based" Value Wasted? Examining Value-Based Insurance Designs Through the Lens of Cost-Effectiveness" by Melnick et al

58% of Surgeries Performed in Hospitals are Outpatient, According to AHRQ/HCUP survey.

AHRQ Introduces New Online Technical Tutorial Series With First Module on HCUP Sample Design

Doctors Face 21% Cut In Medicare Payments.

AMCP Issues Summary of White House Health Care Reform Summit

Maximus To Continue Reviewing Medicare Part D Plan Coverage Determinations

Pharmacoeconomics to Get Bigger Budgets, According to Preliminary Survey Results (Source=Marketwire)

Healthcare Rationing by Proxy: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and the Misuse of the $50,000 Threshold in the US by Bridges et al.

The AMCP Format for Formulary Submissions, Version 3.0

Statistical Data Resources from AMCP for benchmarking in managed care

UnitedHealthcare has launched an innovative program that offers $20 discounts off certain prescription drug co-payments

Healthcare Technology News: National Health Expenditures Top 17% of GDP

UnitedHealthcare Creates Adult National Cancer Care Registry with Data and Analysis to Support Oncologists in the Fight against Cancer

Novartis’s Afinitor Cancer Drug Rejected by U.K. Cost Agency

NEJM: “Giving Teeth to Comparative-Effectiveness Research — The Oregon Experience” by Saha et al.

Oncology Innovative Pricing deal with NICE on lung cancer drug

“Medication Adherence and Enrollment in a Consumer-Driven Health Plan” by Chen,

FDA News: NICE Outlines Appeals Process for Drug Determinations

IBI: More Than Health Promotion: How Employers Manage Health and Productivity

PR Hub: NICE Recommends Approval of New Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Treatment Cimzia(R) (certolizumab pegol) With First of its Kind RA Patient Access Scheme

Healthcare Technology News: Privacy Survey - In Providers We Trust

NEJM article: ‘ Uncomfortable Arithmetic — Whom to Cover versus What to Cover’ by K. Baicker and A. Chandra

NEJM article: ‘ “Play-or-Pay” Insurance Reforms for Employers — Confusion and Inequity’ by B. Herring and M.V. Pauly

Centre for Reviews and Dissemination: Cost-effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity: a modelling study

Do Health Politicians Really Listen to Health Economists? Observations from Europe by Mittendorf et al.

The Hospitalist: Evidence-Based Medicine Curveball

Health Care Reform and the Need for Comparative-Effectiveness Research

January 2010 Newsletter and Eisenberg Conference Series 2009 Are Now Available

Disease Management Care Blog: 10 Predictions for the Next Decade

Conference: Patient Experience and Patient Safety Culture, April 19-21

Funny Pharmacy Videos. These are Hysterical! Particularly "The PharmG's - Boom Intervention" Rap


hot jobs

Job Title Company
Senior Health Economist Royal Tropical Institute
Health Economic Outcomes Research Manager H. Lundbeck A/S
Consultant (Health Economic Modelling) HERON Evidence Development
Analysts & Consultants PRMA Consulting Ltd
Medical Writer PRMA Consulting Ltd


questionnaires & assessments

"Convenience" scale of the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM), Version II
The "Convenience" scale* on the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM) is used to assess the level of patient’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the "Convenience" of medication patients are taking.
2008 State Snapshots
AHRQ Snapshots of State-by-State Healthcare Quality information, including strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement, with expanded emphasis on asthma.
A Selection of Statistical Process Control Tools Used in Monitoring Health Care Performance
The purpose of this article is to briefly outline some of the SPC tools available for monitoring a health care process with corresponding references to their application. (Source: Stephen Schmaltz, PhD, National Measures Clearinghouse, Nov 2009)
A Taxonomy for the Design, Development & Implementation of Patient Registries
About the SF-36
Details on the SF-36, the"short-form" health status questionnaire developed for the Medical Outcomes Study including licensing requirements and contact personnel.
Absence of evidence Vs Evidence of absence
Thought-provoking article suggesting that evidence-based medicine today has become evidence burdened instead. (Source: Hegde, Mangalorean.com, Nov. 2009)
Advantage Suite®
From Medstat, Web-enabled decision support tool linked to a comprehensive, integrated warehouse of medical claims and encounter data, pharmaceutical drug utilization, eligibility information, and performance measures.
AHRQ Registries for Evaluating Patient Outcomes
Comments on the draft handbook from UBC (United Biosource Corp).
AHRQ: Secretary Sebelius Highlights two new reports on Health Care Quality
HHS Secretary Sebelius Highlights two new reports on Health Care Quality, says improving quality is key component of Health Reform. She noted: * 40% of recommended care is not received by patients; * 7/10 adults with mood, anxiety, or impulse disorders receive inadequate or no treatment at all * Disparities exist in healthcare among minorities compared with Caucasians. * Healthcare Associated Infections are rising, threatening patient safety.
Alegent Health P4P
Discusses recent initiative by employer to return money to employees for improving health. Demonstrates a pay for performance (P4P) initiative and an employer who is interested in indirect and direct medical cost management.
Almac Clinical Technologies Announces Patient-Reported-Outcomes Partnership With FACIT.org
Almac announced today a unique partnership with FACIT.org for electronic distribution of the latter's Patient-Reported-Outcomes(PRO) and Quality of Life (QOL) assessments. (Source: Earth Times, Dec. 2009)
Ambulatory Care Experiences Survey
Overview, how to use, etc.
Analysis of Effectiveness and Cost Effectiveness in Patient Registries
Are Metrics Blinding Our Perception?
Are Metrics Blinding Our Perception? Welcome to the Age of Metrics - or to the End of Instinct. (NYT, Nov. 21. 2009)
Asthma QOL questionnaires
Downloads and links for Juniper's AQLQ, miniAQLQ, and ACQ
Asthma QSPAN questionnaires
AHRQ Asthma Processes of care questionnaires
Benefit Design Modeler for Employers
Modeling tool — Medstat Modeler® — allows you to confidently make benefit design decisions specific to the appropriateness of your employee base. The basis for the model is data from the Medstat proprietary MarketScan® Database, a market-leading benchmarking and research database. Using actual claims cost and use experience, industry group, enrollee age/gender, and geographic distribution, we tailor the modeling results to your specific healthcare experience.
Book: Measuring Employee Productivity: A Guide to Self-Assessment Tools
Known as "The Gold Book". Excellent publication on how to choose tool, evaluation of validity/reliability, copies of instruments, all available in downloadable PDF for $49
Book: Platinum Book
How to assess health and productivity management programs (work productivity impairment due to health). This is an excellent resource for anyone engaged in employer-demonstration projects.
Canada outshines U.S. in health performance, but lags well behind the top countries
Canada ranks 10th among the 16 comparator countries in overall health outcomes and earns a "B" grade. The United States is the worst performer in the ranking and gets a "D" grade. (Source: Conference Board of Canada, Sept. 28, 2009)
Case Studies on Health and Productivity Management
Excellent training and education tools from the Benfield Group
Comparative Effectiveness Funding Report
The report to the President and Congress for how the HHS Office of the Secretary should spend $400 million in funding for patient-centered research (comparative effectiveness research) was released at the end of June.
Comparative Effectiveness Funding Report
Comparative Effectiveness Funding Report Released. The report to the President and Congress for how the HHS Office of the Secretary should spend $400 million in funding for patient-centered research (comparative effectiveness research) was released at the end of June. Read full report and view webcast
Comparative Effectiveness Research Funding website
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 created the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research to coordinate comparative effectiveness research across the Federal government. The Council will specifically make recommendations for the $400 million allocated to the Office of the Secretary for CER.
Comparing Adherence and Persistence
The National Quality Forum recently endorsed the proportion of days covered (PDC)—a measure of medication adherence—as an indicator of quality in drug therapy management. (Source: J Manag Care Pharm. 2009;15(9):728-40 Copyright © 2009, Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy.)
Consumer Health Sciences
Consumer Health Sciences/Kantar Health develops and writes protocols and questionnaires in support of consumer and physician proprietary surveys. Our flagship survey, the National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS), is the largest self-reported patient database in the healthcare industry, with annual survey responses dating back to 1998 in the U.S., 2000 in Europe and from 2008 in Asia. In addition to the inclusion of various validated scales in NHWS, we help clients with the design and implementation of prospective studies. Study objectives vary and may include the development and validation of new scales or a patient chart audit evaluation.
Cost effectiveness thresholds
Information on the threshold values used in CHOICE analyses for the relative CE of an intervention in current international dollars of 2000 for 14 countries. Following the recommendations of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, CHOICE uses gross domestic product (GDP) as a readily available indicator to derive the following three categories of cost-effectiveness: Highly cost-effective (less than GDP per capita); Cost-effective (between one and three times GDP per capita); and Not cost-effective (more than three times GDP per capita)
Daily Diary of Events and Behaviors (DDEB)
A measure designed to assess the everyday impact on the family of living with a child who has Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Data Management & Analysis Working Group's article, Analysis of Effectiveness in Patient Registry Data is published in the Policy Analysis section of the June issue of ISPOR CONNECTIONS.
David Eddy Delivers Controversial Lecture on the Future of EBM
Kent Bottles discusses David Eddy's history and recent speach in this posting. (Source: ICSI Health Care Blog, Nov. 30, 2009)
Depression Management Benchmarks: Trends in Integration of Behavioral and Physical Health
Provides actionable information from 260 organizations that are targeting depression as part of a disease management initiative. (Source: Galbreath & Reardon, Healthcare Intelligence Network, Oct 2009)
Determinants of health economic decisions
Summary of presentation by Dr. Daniel Kahneman at 2007 ISPOR meeting. Covers the value of QALY
Disease Management ROI: Benchmarks, Metrics, and Case Studies for Success
Join the Managed Care Information Center and experts on disease management analysis for a discussion about disease management and ROI in this special 90-minute audio conference which took place in May 2007 with Ron Z. Goetzel, Ph.D. Director, Cornell Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, Matthew McGinnis,Sr. Director, Ctr for Health Research, Healthways, and Thomas W. Wilson, Ph.D. Epidemiologist Trajectory HealthCare. Cost is $247 for CD + materials
Dr. Score Blog: Doctor and Patient Satisfaction Ratings
Steven R. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., is the founder and CEO of DrScore.com, the leading online patient satisfaction service in the U.S. that provides detailed patient satisfaction reports to some of the country's leading healthcare organizations. Feldman is a professor of Dermatology, Pathology and Public Health Sciences at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Dutch health system tops Euro survey
The Netherlands has the best healthcare system in Europe, according to the annual Euro Health Consumer Index. (Source: Sarah Bruce, eHealthEurope, Oct 2009)
Effectiveness scale on the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM)
The "Effectiveness" scale on the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM) is used to assess the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the (perceived) "Effectiveness" of medication.
Eight Steps to More Productive Observational (Registry) Studies by Jeff Trotter
Clever, insightful, and informative...Let Jeff Trotter, one of the preeminent consultant to the pharma/biotech industry, help you conceive, implement, and analyze better and more useful observational, Phase IV, Registry studies. As always, he does it with humor!
Emerging Trends Driving Changes in Pharmacy Benefits
Download report from website. The results of the fourth annual “Emerging Trends Driving Changes in Pharmacy Benefits” survey sponsored by the Foundation for Managed Care Pharmacy (FMCP) have been released. The survey is made possible through the generous support of Merck & Company. The HSM Group conducted the survey and analysis. Concerns about the management of specialty pharmacy continued to eclipse other issues in this year’s survey, both in terms of judging clinical evidence and cost management.
Employer Manufacturer Relationships
Report on the Health and productivity management relationship works from the Benfield Group
Employer Market Overview and Trends
From the Benfield Group: Employer market overview; Key employer market trends; Employers' role and influence on pharmacy decisions
Employer Trends - 2006
Employer Market Intelligence. Click here to see how to obtain updated reports from the Benfield Group.
EORTC QLQ-C30
QOL in cancer patients
EQ-5D - homepage
EQ-5D is a standardised instrument for use as a measure of health outcome. Applicable to a wide range of health conditions and treatments, it provides a simple descriptive profile and a single index value for health status that can be used in the clinical and economic evaluation of health care as well as population health surveys. EQ-5D has been specially designed to complement other quality of life measures such as the SF-36, NHP, SIP or disease-specific measures.
Expansion of Quality of Care Measures (Q-SPAN)
AHRQ Project designed to strengthen the science base of quality measurement while expanding the scope and availability of validated, ready-to-use measures. Q-SPAN builds on past work in quality measurement by public and private organizations through eight cooperative agreements to develop and test additional clinical performance measures for specific conditions, patient populations, and health care settings.
FDA Final Guidance on Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) Measures: Use in Medical Product Development to Support Labeling Claims
FDA released the Final Guidance for Industry Patient-Reported Outcome Measures: Use in Medical Product Development to Support Labeling Claims. This guidance represents the FDA’s current thinking on use of PROs to support labeling claims.
first PR SIG workshop was presented at the 11th Annual European Congress in Athens: Use of Real World Data: Challenges in the Analysis of Patient Registry Data
Forum: Patient Registry Classification, Design, Operations, Data Analysis, Reporting & Publishing: Putting All the Pieces Together
Click to see presentation.
Functional Limitations Profile (FLP)
A health-related quality of life measure that is a British Version of the Sickness Impact Profile, translated into British English and rescored using British Weights.
Future of Evidence-based Medicine, by David Eddy
Blog posting about November 2010 lecture questioning the value of EBM, by one of the formidable experts in the field. (Source: ICSI Health Care Blog)
Gain Power Through Evidence-based Selling
New report from Pharmavoice.com (c): "Gaining Power Through Evidence-Based Selling". Adding evidence-based medicine information to the sales call can increase the value of the sales reps' role and help drive physician prescribing behavior. Learn how to create a successful service model, make the rep essential in today's environment, and learn a new go-to-market strategy.
Gaining Power Through Evidence-Based Selling
Report copyrighted from PharmaVoice; Sales reps need an edge to get face time with physicians. By adding evidence-based medicine information to the sales call increases the sales rep's role.
Getting It Right: Designing Outcomes-Based Physician Incentive Compensation
Is there a "right way" to get physician buy-in of pay-for-performance (P4P)? What makes for an effective outcomes-based incentive program? Listen to this executive-level teleconference on CD-ROM. This special program was sponsored by Managed Care Information Center. This conference was held on July 28, 2005. Cost $149 for CD + materials
Global Quality Assessment Tool for Managed Care
AHRQ/QSPAN assessing the quality of care delivered in managed health care plans, this project will examine care delivered to men ages 18-50 and women age 50 and over. Conditions considered: Twenty-seven conditions for new indicator development (e.g., anxiety, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, menopause); 12 to be adapted from the HCFA study (e.g., alcoholism, breast mass, diabetes, low back pain).
Global Satisfaction scale of the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM)
The "Global Satisfaction" scale of the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM) is used to assess the overall level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with medication patients are taking.
Good Outcomes Research Practices
ISPOR provides a compendium of links to clinical, economic, and patient reported outcomes related research practices and issues. (Source: ISPOR, Nov 2009)
Harvard Science: Video can help patients make end-of-life decisions
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers create a video to elicit patient preferences for end-of-life decisions for dementia.
HCMS Human Capital Management Services
Health information service business; has database with Payroll Data; Attendance, Absence and Disability Data; Workers Compensation Data; Health Plan Data, including Drug Safety Data, when available Individual Health & Productivity Data. Also provides consulting services to employers not large enough for database services, and includes technical assistance in health benefits design and implementation, and human capital risk management training.
he P4P Potential: Overcoming the Challenges and Recognizing the Opportunities
The Managed Care Information Center editorial team analyzed the growth and adoption of healthcare provider – physician and hospital – pay-for-performance programs around the country
Health and Productivity Questionnaires
Download version
Health and Productivity Toolkit
Excellent overview for evaluating health and productivity management programs
Health Plan Wellness and Health Improvement Programs: What’s Working Today to Achieve Member Commitment and Participation
Discover what’s working in health plan wellness and health promotion programs, award winning and unique programs, best practices, ROI, and lessons learned in this special audio conference, “Winning Ideas in Health Plan Wellness and Health Improvement Programs: What’s Working Today to Achieve Member Commitment and Participation.” The program was held Tuesday, November 15, 2005.
Health Resources Online: Pay-For-Performance Executive Resource Center
Are you involved in P4P? Healthresourcesonline.com offers a virtual library of executive level P4P including audio conferences, CD-Roms, and a variety of special reports and the industry publication of record: Pay-for-Performance Reporter.
Health Risk Assessment
Source for questionnaires
Health Technology Assessment in Evidence-Based Health Care Reimbursement Decisions
Health Technology Assessment in Evidence-Based Health Care Reimbursement Decisions Around the World: Lessons Learned. (Source: International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research 2009)
HealthAct Inc.
Licenses the Child Health Questionnaire and a series of condition-specific surveys to measure quality of life for patients and their families. HealthActCHQ provides surveys and services to document patient-reported outcomes.
Healthcare Rationing by Proxy: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and the Misuse of the $50 000 Threshold in the US
Authors advocate $US 50,000 per QALY benchmark for determining value for money should be updated, and must vary across payers, populations and even procedures. (Source: PharmacoEconomics: 1 March 2010 - Volume 28 - Issue 3 - pp 175-184)
Health-Related Quality of Life Measurements
How to Use Articles About HRQOL by Gordon Guyatt (how to ascertain change, etc.)
Healthy People 2010
Healthy People 2010 challenges individuals, communities, and professionals, indeed all of us to take specific steps to ensure that good health, as well as long life, are enjoyed by all. This includes leading indicators, guidelines, etc.
HEDIS 2010
HEDIS® is the gold standard in health care performance measurement, used by more than 90 percent of the nation's health plans and many leading employers and regulators. HEDIS is a set of standardized measures that specifies how organizations collect, audit and report performance information across the most pressing clinical areas, as well as important dimensions of customer satisfaction and patient experience.
HEDIS Compliance Audit
Audits or audit reviews for health plans and physician organizations (reporting entities). Licensed by the National Committee for Quality assurance (NCQA) to perform HEDIS Compliance audits, our trained professionals, located throughout the United States, have extensive experience with commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid data in both health plans and provider organizations.
HHS Measure Inventory
HHS Measure Inventory is an inventory of the measures that are currently being used by the Divisions in HHS for quality measurement, improvement, and reporting. The Department's goal is to further advance collaboration among members of the quality community and to advance the effective use and harmonization of quality of care measures. This is the first time a comprehensive list of quality measures used by the Department has been posted in a single location.
High Performance Networks by Health Benchmarks
Increasingly, health plans and employer coalitions are developing tiered provider networks in an attempt to rein in the rising costs of health care. High-value providers are recognized and assigned to different tiers based on whether or not they meet certain standards of utilization and quality, and patients are offered price differentials such as different co-payments and benefit/premium differentials for visiting doctors in these high-performing tiers. n combination, HBI's cost of care measures and clinical quality indicators form the necessary foundation for identifying cost-effective providers or medical care to support plan’s in developing their performance tiers.
Hopecube.com
Hopecube.com is a site dedicated to help people with health issues find information, support, and hope. Form social networks and support groups, write daily diaries and ask health questions about a variety of problem issues.
Hospital Caliper
From Thomson Medstat provides a trusted single source point of reference to easily see which hospitals in an area perform best on key NQF-endorsed measures and determine how local hospitals compare on key effectiveness and efficiency measures.
Hospital Compare - A quality tool provided by Medicare
In this tool you will find information on how well hospitals care for patients with certain medical conditions or surgical procedures, and results from a survey of patients about the quality of care they received during a recent hospital stay. This information will help you compare the quality of care hospitals provide. Talk to your doctor about this information to help you, your family and your friends make your best hospital care decisions.
HRQOL Determinants: A paper by Lyttkens "Why the Economotrician is in Good Spirits"
This is a paper in progress that blends health related quality of life with health economic theory. Very intriguing.
Improving Patients' Experiences: How Primary Care and Specialty Practices Are Using the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey
This Webcast offered an inside look at the efforts of two medical practices—one primary care and one specialty—to improve their performance in the areas of quality measured by the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey. (Source: Dr. Finn & Martinez, UCLA Dept of Medicine, AHRQ, September 2009)
Infosoft Research
Provides online satisfaction surveys, HR surveys and custom research; For web-based and other administration methods.
Integrated Benefits Institute
News and resources related to health & productivity research and employer research.
Integrated Research Network from HealthCore
Multidimensional platform which is structured to combine aspects of traditional retrospective and prospective study designs with data obtained from physicians' offices, diagnostic laboratories and additional administrative data sets in the pursuit of "real world solutions" to clinical research and health outcomes research studies. Clinical studies span the full range of methodology from simple surveys, to registries, to complex phase 2-4 pharmacologic studies.
International Organization for Standardization
ISPOR Forum: Patient Registry Classification, Design, Operations, Data Analysis, Reporting & Publishing: Putting All the Pieces Together
ISPOR Patient Registry SIG
KDQOL: Kidney Disease QOL Qx
Short and long form Qx developed by the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Working Group with support from Amgen.
Last NICE Word on Alzheimer's Meds
The NICE/Eisai/Pfizer battle is finally over regarding access to Alzheimer's drugs and NICE upheld its original decision to ban the reimbursement of Aricept, plus Exelon (rivastigmine, Novartis) and Reminyl (galantamine, Shire), for individuals with early stage disease. In other news, NICE is working with the Medical Research Council (MRC), a government-funded body that pays for academic research within the UK-to develop new methodologies to underpin its decision-making process.
Linguistic Validation Manual for Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Instruments
Linguistic Validation Manual for Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Instruments. (Source: Quality of Life Journal, Springer Link Book Review, 2005)
Malpractice Standards of Care and Regional Variations in Physician Practice Styles
This paper shows how current malpractice laws encourage physicians to follow local standards versus national standard-of-care laws, and thus lead to divergent practices. (Source: Michael Frakes, SSRN, Oct 2009)
Managed Care: What's Ahead, a Forecast
Join thought leaders in the managed care industry to hear different perspectives of the challenges ahead in the 90-minute audio conference, “Forecast: What’s Ahead for Managed Care.” Sponsored by The Executive Report on Managed Care and the Managed Care Information Center, this executive-level program was held on February 23, 2006. Cost is $227 for CD + materials
Mapi Research Institute
Collaborative research in the field of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) since 1994. Links to questionnaires and linguestics translations
Median Model Of U.S. EQ-5D Health State Preferences
The article describes a study where a health status questionnaire was conducted, its interpretation and use. (Source: Medical New Today, Dec. 2, 2009)
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
New Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) publications and data files here: * Characteristics of Uninsured Young Adults: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population 19-23 Years of Age, 2006. * 2007 Full Year Population Characteristics File (HC-107), the 2007 Job File (HC-108), and the HC-NHIS Link File for the 2007 MEPS/2006 & 2005 NHIS. * The 2007 Adult Self-Administered (SAQ) and 2007 Diabetes Care Survey (DCS) Questionnaires are now available.
Medical Outcomes Trust
Dedicated to improving health and health care by distributing standardized, high quality instruments that measure health and the outcomes of medical care.
Medical Outcomes Trust QOL Questionnaires
Access the instruments and information about them through here: Generic Instruments include BASIS-32; Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ; Child Health and Illness Profile--Adolescent Edition (CHIP-AE); Duke Health Profile (DUKE); London Handicap Scale (LHS); Sickness Impact Profile (SIP); Quality of Well-Being Scale (QWB); Primary Care Assessment Survey (PCAS); SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36® Health Survey); SF-12 Health Survey (SF-12® Health Survey) Condition-Specific Instruments include Adult Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ); Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaires (PAQLQ); MOS-HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV) Migraine Specific Quality of Life (MSQOL); Migraine Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MSQ v.2.1); 24-Hour Migraine Quality of Life Questionnaire (24-Hr-MQOLQ); St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire- UK Parent Version (SGRQ-UK) Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ); Urinary Incontinence-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (I-QOL-US)
MediQual
Clinical information business of Cardinal Health. Using laboratory results data coupled with data from billing systems, both of which are available electronically in most hospitals, achieves much greater accuracy in assessing quality and outcomes. It also provides information about the risk adjusted outcomes in a form that is readily comparable across hospitals.
Medstat Core Measures
Delivers timely, efficient, and cost-effective reporting to JCAHO, CMS, and other data aggregators.
Medstat Modeler
Medstat Modeler assists customers in making accurate, efficient decisions by quantifying the cost impact of proposed plan design changes, including co-pay, premiums, covered services, and benefit limits on costs to the organization and enrollees. * Modeler data is populated with information from the market-leading benchmarking database, Medstat MarketScan® * Provides an intuitive Excel-based interface and generates presentation-ready reports * Helps customers improve their capabilities to forecast expenses and project costs to compare budgets in determining variances * Can identify cost impacts of multiple scenarios in minutes, and run multiple design changes simultaneously
MEPSnet: Interactive statistical tool
Developed to provide immediate access to data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) in a nonprogramming environment. Available online, MEPSnet is quick and easy to use, allowing even novice users the ability to generate national estimates in a few seconds.
Mergers and Acquisitions in the Managed Care Industry: The Trends, Issues and Impact
Hear from speakers at three leading investment banking companies that focus on merger & acquisition services in the healthcare industry for both providers and payors to learn the current trends in M&A’s, what are the issues, what are state officials' issues, what acquirers are seeking in a suitable fit, the strategic buyer's interests, and, finally, the impact on providers in a consolidated market.
Mortality Measurement
There is increasing interest in deploying and publicly reporting a risk-adjusted measure of mortality as a quality indicator of hospital system-level performance. The presentations provided here are from a November 2008 meeting to discuss relative merits, interpretation, attributes, and potential uses related to mortality measures.
Most Employers Underestimate Full Costs of Employee Health on Productivity
In another study on P4P from Bridges to Excellence, P4P found to work with appropriate incentives
National Committee on Quality Assurance
National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™ (NQMC)
NQMC is a public repository for evidence-based quality measures and measure sets from AHRQ and HHS.
NEJM Article: Debate about Funding Comparative-Effectiveness Research
"The proposal to include $1.1 billion for comparative-effectiveness research (CER) in the federal stimulus package encountered a vigorous and well-coordinated backlash. The campaign to gut this funding ultimately failed, but the debate it engendered and the resonance of the opposition's arguments in both lay and policy circles reveal much about the issues that will surround such research and its application in the coming years."
NEJM Article: Does Comparative-Effectiveness Research Threaten Personalized Medicine
"The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act gives comparative-effectiveness research (CER) a large boost in funding over the next 2 years. Despite a consensus that better information about the relative effectiveness of different medical interventions is needed to improve the quality and value of care, some view CER with skepticism."
NEJM Article: The Neglected Purpose of Comparative-Effectiveness Research
"On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law an initiative providing $1.1 billion to support research on the comparative effectiveness of drugs, medical devices, surgical procedures, and other treatments for various conditions. This comparative-effectiveness research (CER) initiative has generated considerable controversy. "
Newswise Medical News: Comparison is Key to Lower Costs, Better Outcomes from Medications
Patients can expect significant savings and better outcomes from their prescription medications when health care professionals use comparative effectiveness research, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
NQMC: How to Submit Measures
Suggest evidence-based quality measures and measure sets for possible inclusion in the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™ (NQMC)
NYT Article: What if Patient's Preference is in Conflict with Recommendations Grounded in Evidence-Based Medicine?
An interview with Dr. Berwick, a Harvard pediatrician and president for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, about mandatory shared (between physician and patient) decision-making. Very interesting conundrum.
Obesity and Weight Loss QOL Instrument
Weight-specific instruments intended to be used together to assess obesity specific symptoms and quality of life, general functional status and well-being, and person-specific preference measurement.
Observational Research Survey Results: Spring 2009
Results from survey conducted by J Trotter Research & Consulting on issues related to observational and registry research. Download PDF of preliminary results.
OHSU: Drug Effectiveness Reveiw Project
Drug Effectiveness Review Project homepage.
P4P and Public Reporting Help Quality Improvements
Hospitals engaged in both public reporting and pay-for-performance achieved modestly greater improvements in quality than did hospitals engaged in only public reporting, according to a study appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Patient Reported Outcomes Working Group
Link to the ISPOR Working Group. Goal is to increase the appropriate use of methods for measurement of patient preferences and values in outcomes research and the use of this information in health care technology assessment.
PatientViewpoint: a website for patient-reported outcomes assessment
Qual Life Res. 2009 Jun 21. To develop a prototype website to collect patient-reported outcomes in outpatient clinical oncology and link the data with the electronic medical record (EMR). METHODS: A multidisciplinary Research Network, including experts in outcomes research, clinical oncology, nursing, social work, information technology, EMRs, behavioral science, decision science, clinical trials, law, and a cancer survivor, was formed to design the prototype website. The Research Network developed the initial website specifications, elicited feedback from patients (n = 20) and clinicians (n = 7), constructed the website, and conducted usability testing (n = 10). RESULTS: Clinicians reported that the website could improve clinical practice if it was not burdensome and were most interested in tracking change over time. Patients were interested in using the website because of the potential to facilitate communication with their clinicians. Patients emphasized the importance of short and simple surveys and a user-friendly interface. The PatientViewpoint website was designed to meet these specifications. Usability testing suggested that patients had few problems accessing and using the site. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary reports from clinicians and patients suggest that a website to collect PROs and link them with the EMR could help improve the quality of cancer care. Further pilot-testing will evaluate the use, usefulness, and acceptability of PatientViewpoint.
PatientViewpoint: a website for patient-reported outcomes assessment
Interesting article in Qual Life Res Jnl by Snyder et al. re developing a prototype website to collect patient-reported outcomes in outpatient clinical oncology and link the data with the electronic medical record (EMR). Article entitled
Pay for Performance Reporter
Costs $250-$350, once-monthly, put out by MCIC.
Pay for Performance: Lessons Learned
CD Rom + materials from a discussion of past successes and the challenges ahead in the 90-minute audio conference, “Pay-For-Performance: Lessons Learned and Future Predictions.” This executive-level program took place on March 29, 2007. Cost is $247
Payer Perspectives on Comparative Effectiveness
Xcenda’s newest report: Payer Perspectives on Comparative Effectiveness. In addition to a historical overview of CE and in-depth coverage of its current use, the report describes how CE will impact manufacturers and other stakeholders and includes a special section focused on implications for Oncology. The report also delivers key insights into the payer perspective on CE research methods and data sources. View a glimpse of the insights contained in this new report: Comparative Effectiveness: “Rational vs. Rationing” -- Payer and Physician Perspectives on How CE will Change US Healthcare
Payer Perspectives on Comparative Effectiveness
Xcenda’s newest report uncovers Payer Perspectives on Comparative Effectiveness. In addition to a historical overview of CE and in-depth coverage of its current use, the report describes how CE will impact manufacturers and other stakeholders and includes a special section focused on implications for Oncology. The report also delivers key insights into the payer perspective on CE research methods and data sources. View a glimpse of the insights contained in this new report: Comparative Effectiveness: “Rational vs. Rationing” -- Payer and Physician Perspectives on How CE will Change US Healthcare
Pediatric Economic Database Evaluation
Paediatric Economic Database Evaluation (PEDE) Project was conceived as part of a research program in paediatric health economic methods.In Phase 1, a comprehensive database of over 750 paediatric economic evaluations published over a 20-year period was created. Phase 2 examined key trends in publication. With this database available, an important objective was to evaluate the quality of published paediatric economic evaluations to reveal methodological limitations of existing approaches. In Phase 3, the Paediatric Quality Appraisal Questionnaire (PQAQ), a 57-item paediatric-specific quality appraisal instrument, was developed through a systematic process of item selection, validity and reliability assessment and pre-testing. The PQAQ was used to critically appraise the quality of the paediatric health economic literature in Phase 4.
Perceived Quality of Life Scale (PQOL)
Generic instrument for assessing perceived quality of life among adults.
Performance Expert
Performance analysis and reporting tool, combines robust analytics, clinically driven severity adjustment, benchmarking comparatives, and potent reporting to provide insights needed to focus and drive performance improvement efforts.
Performance Measurement
Medstat designs reliable, evidence-based measures of costs, access, and quality of care to analyze provider and health plan performance. We assist in developing related data collection processes and systems that ensure data validity and comparability. We integrate, validate, and analyze the resulting data, we build market-wide norms, and we evaluate performance against those norms. We also lead and coordinate regional coalitions of employers, providers, and plans, contributing to the success of their performance-incentive and quality improvement programs.
Performance Scoring by Health Benchmarks
To ensprovide the most useful information in a succinct, meaningful manner, HBI will assist by either developing and mass-producing provider scorecards, or guiding the proper development of scorecards within our clients'own corporation.
Pharmacoeconomic Guidelines Around the World
Pharmacoeconomic evaluation is an analytical tool used with increasing frequency to assist decision making in the financing and management of pharmaceutical products in the health care system or national health insurance programs of an individual country. Pharmacoeconomic (PE) guidelines can be used as a standard for preparation of studies to be included in application for reimbursement, a guide for designing and conducting a study, or a template for evaluating the economic study reports. (Source: ISPOR, Nov 2009)
Preference-based condition-specific measures of health: what happens to cross programme comparability?
This article provides a discussion of QALYs and the use of Condition Specific Measures (preference-based). (Source: Brazier and Tuschiya, Health Economics, 4 Jan. 2010)
Presentation: ISPOR Drug Cost Task Force Forum: Good Research Practices for Measuring Drug Costs in Cost Effectiveness Analyses
Click to see PPT Presentation
Presentation: ISPOR Good Research Practices for the Retrospective Database Studies Task Force Forum: Good Research Practices on the Design And Analysis Of Non-Randomized Studies Of Treatment Effects Using Secondary Databases
Click to see PPT Presentation
Presentation: ISPOR Good Research Practices for the Retrospective Database Studies Task Force Forum: Good Research Practices on the Design And Analysis Of Non-Randomized Studies Of Treatment Effects Using Secondary Databases
Click to see PPT Presentation
Presentation: ISPOR Health Science Policy Council Forum: Update on Comparative Effectiveness and Health Information Technology Legislation and Policy Developments, and Their Impact on Pharmacoeconomics
Click to see PPT Presentation
Presentation: ISPOR Patient Registry SIG Forum: Patient Registry Design, Operations, Data Analysis, Reporting & Publishing: Putting All the Pieces Together
Click to see PPT Presentation
Presentation: ISPOR PRO Existing Instruments & Their Modification Task Force Forum: Good Research Practices on Evaluating and Documenting the Content Validity of PRO Instruments to Support Medical Product Labeling
Click to see PPT Presentation
Presentation: ISPOR Quality Improvement in Cost Effectiveness Research Task Force Forum: Quality Improvement In Cost Effectiveness Research
Click to see PPT Presentation
Presentation: ISPOR Risk Management SIG Forum: Risk Benefit Management
Click to see PPT Presentation
Primary Care Assessment Survey
51-item patient-completed questionnaire designed to operationalize formal definitions of primary care including the definition posted by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on the Future of Primary Care. The survey measures 7 defining characteristics of primary care through 11 summary scales, including detailed measurement of the doctor-patient relationship (communication quality, patient trust, physician knowledge of patient, interpersonal treatment, relationship duration).
Principles of Good Practice for the Translation and Cultural
Principles of Good Practice for the Translation and Cultural Adaptation Process for Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Measures: Report of the ISPOR Task Force for Translation and Cultural Adaptation. (Source: Value in Health, Nov. 2005)
PRO (Patient Reported Outcomes) and FDA
Foreign Exchange Translation blog post on PRO and FDA
Proceedings of Value-Based Health Care Leadership Forum
On February 4, 2009, a meeting was hosted by the Foundation for Managed Care Pharmacy (FMCP), Alexandra, Virginia, and The Pharmacy & Therapeutics Society (P&T Society), Glastonbury, Connecticut, at which health care executives convened to create new knowledge and develop strategies on the role of pharmaceuticals in a value-based health system. This invitation-only event assembled key stakeholders to address critical issues related to value-based health care for 2009 and beyond. The key program objective was to develop strategies on the role of pharmaceuticals in a value-based health care system, with the goal of improving public health. Download report from this URL
PROMIS
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) initiative stablishes a collaborative relationship between NIH and individual research teams through a cooperative agreement (U01) mechanism. The broad objectives of the PROMIS network are to: * Develop and test a large bank of items measuring patient-reported outcomes * Create a computerized adaptive testing system that allows for efficient, psychometrically robust assessment of patient-reported outcomes in clinical research involving a wide range of chronic diseases * Create a publicly available system that can be added to and modified periodically and that allows clinical researchers to access a common repository of items and computerized adaptive tests. The network will collaborate on the collection of self-reported data from diverse populations of individuals with a variety of chronic diseases, using agreed-upon methods, modes, and questionnaires.
QALYs in Health Outcomes Research: Representation of Real Preferences or Another Numerical Abstraction?
Journal article on the benefits and issues related to quality adjusted life years (QALY)
QALYs: Will they survive
ISPOR QALY Consensus Development Workshop Building a Pragmatic Road: An ISPOR Development Workshop on Moving the QALY Forward (By Invitation Only) November 7–8, 2007 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
QOL questionnaires
From University of Toronto
Quality in and Equality of Access to Healthcare Services: HealthQUEST
Project financed by the European Commission. Main objectives were: To identify and analyse barriers of access to health care services which are faced by vulnerable groups in society, and especially those most exposed to social exclusion; To review the various policy initiatives taken by the Member States to realise the objective of access for all, including the analysis of good practice examples; To highlight and describe the most effective policy measures to ensure access to health care to the most disadvantaged (including a case study on people with mental health problems); * To help to determine the extent to which increased access to and quality of health care services can make to combating poverty and social exclusion and increasing social inclusion.
Quality Indicator Project
Mission is to develop health care provider performance indicators, to determine the validity of the indicators in the field, and to educate participants as to the applications of the indicators in identifying potential opportunities for improvement.
QualityTools
QualityTools is an AHRQ-sponsored compilation of practical tools for assessing, measuring, promoting, and improving the quality of health care. Its purpose is to give health plans, providers, purchasers, consumers, and policymakers easy access to a variety of resources they can use to improve the delivery of care, inform decisions, and educate people about their health care needs.
Quantifying Disease Management Return-on- Investment: Trends, Metrics, Evaluations, Transparency and Reality
This 50-page special report contains insider information from three leading experts in DM analytics. They review key principles in calculating ROI, how to establish metrics for evaluating DM programs, and common mistakes in measuring ROI. They also share some relevant case studies for comparison
RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0
Based on the SF-36, this page tests the feasibility of collecting health outcome information via the WWW.
Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA)
A short 7-item questionnaire designed to allow clinicians to monitor physical activity levels among their patients ages 50+. Mexican-Spanish and Vietnamese versions are currently under development. Please contact the Instrument Distribution Coordinator for information regarding the RAPA.
Registries and AHRQ requirements
Listen to MP3 of how patient registries assist AHRQ with quality assessment.
Report: Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Report to the President and the Congress)
The Annual Report on Comparative Effectiveness Research contains information describing current Federal activities on comparative effectiveness research and recommendations for such research conducted or supported from funds made available by the Recovery Act.
Rhinoconjunctivities QOL Questionnaire
Links/downloads
SERMO: Online Physician Community
Physicians around the nation exchange the latest medical insights with each other and improve patient outcomes - 24/7. Used for epidemiology, patient outcomes, surveys, etc.
SF-12, SF-36, SF-8, and Headache Impact Qx
Access questionnaires to use, scoring demonstrations, etc.
Side Effects scale on the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM)
This "Side Effects" scale* on the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM) is used to assess the level of dissatisfaction with the "Side Effects" of medication patients are taking.
Standardizing Quality Assessment of Observational Studies for Decision Making in Health Care
Report from Roundtable of managed care experts and pharmacoeconomists on "Overcoming Barriers to Incorporating Real-World Data into Healthcare Decision-making" is summarized in recent article by Brixner et al. in Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy. Includes key recommendations. Fairman and Curtis follow with an editorial on challenges of editing these types of studies for JMCP. If you do research with these type of data, this is a must-read.
The Data Management & Analysis Working Group's article, Analysis of Effectiveness in Patient Registry Data is published in the Policy Analysis section of the June issue of ISPOR CONNECTIONS.
Click to see presentation
The Full Costs of Depression in the Workforce
IBI Releases Full Costs of Depression Research Report and Survey. Includes excellent slide deck. IBI research shows that a full-cost view of depression's workforce effects presents unanticipated employer costs and significant challenges. To help employers use the research findings, IBI member experts suggest how to overcome challenges identified in the research. Based on 400K+ claims from Ingenix plus Healht and Work Performance Questionnaire.
The Future of Health Technology Assessment in Healthcare Decision Making in Asia
The report addresses use of HTA (Health Technology Assessment) in establishing health care policy in Asia. (source: AdisOnline, PharmacoEconomics: 1 November 2009 - Volume 27 - Issue 11 - pp 891-901)
Tradeoffs and Cost/Benefit Analysis in Health Screenings
This blog post discusses how health care decisions are made given consideration for testing results (especially false negatives) by insurance companies and government policy. (Source: Meep, POWIP, Nov 22, 2009)
Translation & Linguistic Validation of PRO Measures
A for fee audio conference describing best practices for Translation and Linquistic Validation of PRO measures.
Trends in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Offers and Enrollment, Private Sector by Firm Size, 1998-2008
This Statistical Brief discusses both changes in health insurance offers by private sector employers and changes in enrollment by their employees from 1998 to 2008. (Source: AHRQ.gov, Oct 2009)
UK has 'worst quality of life' in Europe
Despite having the highest incomes, people in Britain have the worst quality of life in Europe, a study shows. (Source: PressTV, October 2009)
Urinary Incontinence Quality of Life Scale (I-QOL)
A self-report Quality of Life measure specific to urinary problems that can be used to assess the impact of urinary problems and their treatment.
Use of Real World Data: Challenges in the Analysis of Patient Registry Data
Click to see presentation
VALUE 1000 – A PRACTICAL PROPOSAL FOR MEASURING QUALITY IN HEALTHCARE
VALUE 1000 – A PRACTICAL PROPOSAL FOR MEASURING QUALITY IN HEALTHCARE: This paper explores some practical ways of measuring quality and value in healthcare. (Source: Kishore Somanathan, Meta Analytics LLC, 2009)
Webinar: IBI Lost Productivity Calculators Training
Thursday, October 15th, 11 AM-12 PM PDT IBI Introduced three new Lost Productivity Calculators that allow employers to estimate the true cost of employee absence to their bottom line.
Webinar: IBI Lost Productivity Calculators Training, October 27th, 1-2 PM PDT
IBI introduced three new Lost Productivity Calculators that allow companies to estimate the true cost of employee absence to their bottom line. Three webinar training sessions are offered, each of which cover all three calculators: Thursday, October 15th, 11 AM- 12 PM, PDT Tuesday, October 20th, 9AM-10 AM, PDT Tuesday, October 27th, 1-2 PM
Wellness Survey: Businesses Look to Wellness Programs to Improve Productivity and Lower Absenteeism
Wellness Survey: Businesses Look to Wellness Programs to Improve Productivity and Lower Absenteeism. Improving productivity by keeping employees healthy and working is emerging as the top business objective for employer-sponsored wellness programs around the world. (Source: Ad Hoc News, Nov 16. 2009)
WHO Health and Productivity Questionnaire
Overview, downloads, references
Why should economic evaluations of medical innovations have a societal perspective?
Downloadable free report: Why should economic evaluations of medical innovations have a societal perspective? (Source: OHE, Office of Health Economics, published Oct. 2009)
Work Limitations Questionnaire
Overview, how to obtain, etc.
Work Productivity Questionnaire
Validation process document
Workshop 12: A Taxonomy for the Design, Development & Implementation of Patient Registries
Click to see presentation
Workshop 9: Analysis of Effectiveness and Cost Effectiveness in Patient Registries
Click to see presentation
World Health Organization Quality of Life Instruments (WHOQOL)
Generic Quality of Life Scale developed through the World Health Organization. The SeaQoL Group is the location of the US WHOQOL Center and distributes the US English translations of the WHOQOL-100 and WHOQOL-BREF.
Youth Disability Screener (YDS)
A 4-item measure for obtaining self-reported disability status from youth ages 11-18
Youth Quality of Life Instruments (YQOL)
The YQOL includes both generic and condition-specific measures. Has an obesity component too.




 

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