Questions about the cost and effectiveness of medical care have generated considerable attention in medical outcomes research. In 1993, the Department of Health and Human Services appointed a multi-disciplinary group to recommend standards for the evaluation of health care. The panel's report suggested that standardized outcomes analyses be conducted to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of medical care. These analyses require preference-weighted measures of health-related quality of life. Such measures are needed in order to adjust survival time for health-related quality of life.