Health Risk Appraisal

This technology assessment on health risk appraisals (HRAs) was prepared by the McMaster University Evidence-based Practice Center (MU-EPC) for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The primary goals of the assessment were to describe key features of HRAs, examine which features were associated with successful HRAs, and discuss the applicability of HRAs to the Medicare population.

CMS, in consultation with the MU-EPC and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), drafted the following key questions (KQ) to guide the technology assessment.

1. Describe the characteristics of the provision of HRAs, including the following:
   1. Which specific HRAs were studied in the literature?
   2. What were the methods of HRA administration, e.g., telephone, web-based, in the doctor‘s office, community based, workplace based, or other?
   3. What was the training of personnel who administered HRAs?
   4. What were the methods and frequencies of followup? What were the characteristics of the patient populations who received HRAs?
2. What characteristics of HRAs (Question 1 a-e above) are associated with better health outcomes?
3. What is the generalizability of the data in Questions 1 and 2 to the Medicare population or subpopulations?