Measuring Pain from the Patient's Poi...( LINCOLN R.I. Sept. 21 /- ...),Health

LINCOLN, R.I., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the National Centers for Health Statistics, 76.2 million Americans report problems with chronic pain; more than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. The same report notes that the annual cost of chronic pain in the United States, including healthcare expenses, lost income, and productivity, is estimated to be $100 billion.

"Despite the obvious impact on our society and economy, pain can be difficult to measure. There are many variables such as the association of pain with multiple conditions and the lack of a standardized metric for measuring the impact of pain on an individual's daily life," says Gus Gardner, President and Chief Operating Officer at QualityMetric Incorporated. "Recently, we've noticed a marked increase in our customer's desire to measure pain accurately and efficiently, and the PIQ-6 provides this ability."

To address this trend, and the common need to measure general health as well, QualityMetric today announces the availability of the SF-12v2(R) Health Survey Pain Enhanced, a combination of the Pain Impact Questionnaire(TM) (PIQ-6(TM)) and SF-12v2(R) Health Survey. "This combined tool offers a unique perspective of patient health not previously available through one tool, and allows for more comprehensive and targeted care," says Jeff Hallowell, Vice President of Business Development at QualityMetric. "The SF-12v2 Pain Enhanced quickly and effectively measures pain severity and impact along with a more comprehensive measure of an individual's functional health and well-being".

The PIQ-6, SF-12v2, and the SF-12v2 Pain Enhanced are available online and in traditional paper and pencil format with fax capability. This fax feature allows the survey data to be collected automatically by simply placing the completed survey into a fax machine. The scanned results are then uploaded into our Smart Measurement(
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