Jennifer H. Lofland, PharmD and David B. Nash, MD, MBA from Thomas Jefferson University's Office of Health Policy and Clinical Outcomes, and Donald M. Steinwachs, PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management propose a collaborative study for the mentored clinical scientist development award. With didactic and experimental components, this four-year career development plan will provide Jennifer H. Lofland with the skills necessary to meet her long-term objectives to be an independent health services researcher. The didactic component will be completed at Johns Hopkins University. The experiential component will measure and evaluate patient-focused outcomes: health- related quality of life and lost workplace and non-workplace productivity. The research objectives are to 1) validate a patient-focused headache questionnaire, 2) determine patient outcomes using the validated questionnaire, 3) determine methodologies for valuing lost productivity, 4) develop predictive models to determine the variables associated with decreased health-related quality of life and increased lost productivity for patients with asthma or with headache, and 5) develop a proposal for a healthcare program to improve patients' health-related quality of life and decreased lost productivity. The study population will include patients from the Jefferson Healthcare System and a Medicaid managed care organization. Information from this investigation may be used by clinicians and healthcare decision-makers to develop programs that can increase patients' health-related quality of life and decrease patients' lost workplace and non-workplace productivity.
