To meet the demands of a system experiencing rapid growth in the care and treatment of chronic illness and disabilities, disease management
is confronted with the responsibility of assessing risk, containing cost, and improving outcomes. Numerous methods exist for assessing health outcomes
including direct clinical measures, patient satisfaction surveys, and patient-reported outcome (PRO) surveys. Health outcomes can also be assessed through
surrogate indicators taken from claims data.
Experts recommend an integrated outcomes measurement strategy that combines data from multiple sources – including the patient. Increasingly, disease management
providers have incorporated QualityMetric's PRO surveys. Employing standardized metrics, QualityMetric surveys can be used to distinguish between
two or more groups, assess changes over time, or predict future health status in order to design cost-effective interventions. More importantly, because of their scientific validity,
our PRO surveys can be depended on to quantify outcomes with a precision that will stand the test of health industry scrutiny.
Case Point: CorSolutions
What Patient-reported Outcomes Can Tell You That Claims Data Can Not
[More]
When CorSolutions, one of the nation's largest disease management providers, sought to compare the functioning of members with coronary artery
disease to those members with congestive heart failure, they elected to administer the SF-8 Health Survey.
After taking a baseline measurement, members' health status was subsequently measured at three-month intervals up
to a period of one year.
Data analysis demonstrated that while both groups experienced improvement in both physical and mental health status, only those with coronary artery disease experienced
significantly stronger physical functioning. So while both groups were twice as likely to improve after a full-year of disease management participation, the data indicated that
those with congestive heart failure experienced more disease burden than those with coronary artery disease.
Had CorSolutions relied solely on static claims data to analyze member outcomes, the distinguishing factors around burden would have been completely overlooked, as would have any related opportunities to
modify treatment for the group accordingly.
Generic
QualityMetric's SF-12®, SF-12v2™, and SF-8™ Health Surveys are widely used for disease management purposes. Their reliability and validity in assessing the
burden of disease has been demonstrated for more than 100 patient populations. Many studies document their ability to predict hospitalization,
total medical expenditures, job loss and work productivity, future health, risk of depression, use of mental health care, and mortality.
Disease-specific
QualityMetric disease-specific surveys can be used alone to screen for and monitor impact on functional status and well-being.
They can also be paired with an SF™ Generic Health Survey to capture a more comprehensive picture of health status benefits resulting from treatment.
Modes of Administration
In addition to paper and pencil survey administration, many QualityMetric surveys are available for online, fax/scanning, PDA or IVR administration,
offering accurate data capture and scoring, real-time patient reports, and aggregate-level data with interpretative guidelines.
QualityMetric's Outcomes Insight™ Consulting Division has collaborated with leading disease management companies, health plans, employers and insurers,
supporting care management through the scientifically valid measurement of patient-reported health status. From the
development of a new or refinement of an existing disease-specific survey, to providing support in all aspects of study
design and program evaluation, our consultants provide broad-based expertise involving the use and application of patient-reported
outcomes survey.
For a list of services, click here.
Outcomes Education
QualityMetric offers an array of educational programs that can be customized to meet the needs of organizations exploring the value associated
with PRO measurement in program effectiveness and population monitoring:
Manuals and User Guides
The breadth of QualityMetric's scientific measurement expertise is best evidenced in the manuals and user guides that accompany each of our survey products.
They are also used independently for their research and interpretive value. Manuals include:
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