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09-15-2003

QualityMetric Releases Significant Update of SF Bibliography
05-05-2003

QualityMetric Releases SF-12v2™ Health Survey User's Manual
10-30-2002

QualityMetric Streamlines Access to Health Outcomes Surveys
10-02-2002

Ware Receives Donabedian Award from ISPOR
05-21-2002

Modern Psychometric Methods "Score" at the Winter Olympics
02-20-2002

SF Survey Licensing and User Registration Simplified and On-line
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Recipes for Health Measures and Gingerbread Cookies
01-01-2002

Scholars Debate Interpretation of SF-36® Summary Health Measures
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Can item response theory reduce respondent burden in health assessments?
08-14-2001

Japanese SF-36 User's Manual Published by Fukuhara
06-29-2001

The SF-36 Physical and Mental Health Summary Scales: A Manual for Users - Just Published
04-16-2001

QualityMetric and invivodata Join Forces to Optimize Health Outcome Assessments for Handheld Devices Used in Clinical Trials
03-26-2001

QualityMetric Releases SF-12v2™ Health Survey User's Manual
10-30-2002

QUALITYMETRIC RELEASES SF-12v2™ HEALTH SURVEY USER'S MANUAL AT www.qualitymetric.com

World's Most Widely Used Health Measurement Tools Now Have Comparability and Compatibility of Scoring

     Providence, RI - "How can we possibly assume we are improving health care without considering the voice of the patient?" John E. Ware, Jr., PhD, chief executive officer of QualityMetric Incorporated, commented in a statement issued today upon publication of the SF-12v2 Health Survey User's Manual, the most comprehensive manual to date for users of short-form health surveys. "We need valid assessments of each patient's health from their perspective, understood on both individual and collective levels, to recommend improvements in the delivery of care," Dr. Ware continued.

     The SF Health Surveys, trademarks of QualityMetric Incorporated and the Medical Outcomes Trust, are the most widely used outcomes assessments in the world, translated in up to 60 languages. Completed by patients, these general health surveys offer short, precise, statistically valid tools for health risk assessment and health outcomes monitoring. In their newest form, QualityMetric's general health surveys can be administered online using adaptive technologies that adjust the sequence and number of questions asked based on each person's unique responses about their health.

     While the SF-36® and SF-12® health surveys, named for the number of questions contained in each, measure the same eight aspects of general health, the SF-12 has rapidly become the instrument of choice in large population health surveys that require maximum efficiency. A subset of items from the SF-36, the SF-12 offers the same comprehensiveness and range of measurement at one-third the length.

     Version 2 of the SF-12 (SF-12v2) not only maintains the comprehensiveness of the SF-36 and SF-12v1, but offers additional features, including:

• A five-fold increase in the range of health levels
• Significantly improved profile and summary scores
• Norm-based scoring providing direct compatibility with previously collected SF-36, SF-12, and SF-8™ survey data

     "The fact that data collected using other SF surveys or survey versions are now comparable to the SF-12v2 is of huge import to those of us in the health community who use such data to measure health status and monitor changes over time, providing a reliable mechanism to predict trends, support development and evaluation of treatments, and ultimately to improve care and outcomes and reduce costs," Dr. Ware concluded.

     Health care professionals using any of the SF health survey tools will find value in the newly released SF-12v2 Health Survey User's Manual, which includes:

• Thorough documentation of the development of the SF-12 and improvements achieved with Version 2.0 (v2)
• Comparisons of SF-12, SF-36, and SF-8 survey forms and guidelines for their appropriate use
• Up-to-date population norms for all eight scales and two summary measures
• Dr. Ware's insights into standardization and comparability of health assessments

     The approximately 250-page SF-12v2 Health Survey User's Manual may be ordered online at www.qualitymetric.com by clicking on Marketplace, or by calling QualityMetric at 1-800-572-9394, ext. 712. The SF-12v2 Health Survey User's Manual was co-authored by Dr. Ware and is a joint publication of QualityMetric Incorporated and the Health Assessment Lab.

About QualityMetric Incorporated

     QualityMetric Incorporated, an independently and privately held corporation located in Lincoln, RI, was founded in 1997 by John E. Ware Jr., PhD, principal developer of the SF-36, SF 12, and SF-8 Health Surveys. For more information, contact:

QualityMetric Incorporated
640 George Washington Highway
Suite 201
Lincoln, RI 02865, USA.
Fax: 401-334-8801.