Severity Index for Rheumatoid Arthritis (SIFRA™)

Health care claims data provide information in a real world setting. However, they do not contain information on disease severity and are not specific to rheumatoid arthritis. The SIFRA™ algorithm:

• is a severity index specifically designed for rheumatoid arthritis
• has high correlation with rheumatoid arthritis medical records-based index of severity
• improves the risk adjustment by lowering prediction errors in estimation of outcomes measures
• 6 times better: improves total variation explained in outcomes measures by 611%

Additional Percentage of Variation Explained by Adding SIFRA to Outcomes Models*

SIFRA™ includes:

• Radiology and laboratory findings (presence of RF, HLA subtype, C1-2 subluxation or CCP)
• Clinical and functional status measures (rheumatologist visits)
• Extra-articular manifestations (pulmonary nodules, subcutaneous nodules, vasculitis, Felty’s syndrome)
• Surgical history (cervical spine fusion, ankle fusion, joint, hip, and knee replacement)
• Medications (glucocorticoid, DMARDs, biologic therapies)

 
Feel free to download our SIFRA™ flyer or refer to our April 2012 Newsletter for more information.

*Baser O, Du J, Xie L, Wang H, Dysinger AH, Wang L. Derivation of severity index for rheumatoid arthritis and its association with healthcare outcomes. J Med Econ. Forthcoming May 2012.