If you’ve been digging through clinical research papers or looking into how big pharma actually measures if a drug makes someone feel better, you’ve probably stumbled across two names: Kristi Jackson and QualityMetric. Often, they appear alongside a "mailto" link or a corporate footer mentioning IQVIA. It looks like standard corporate boilerplate, but there is actually a pretty deep well of science and history behind those names that shapes how modern medicine is evaluated.
Honestly, most people think clinical trials are just about blood tests and X-rays. They aren't. A huge part of the puzzle is "Patient-Reported Outcomes" (PROs). This is where Kristi Jackson and the team at QualityMetric come in. They are essentially the translators who turn "I feel kinda tired today" into hard, scientific data that the FDA actually trusts.
Who Exactly is Kristi Jackson?
Dr. Kristi Jackson isn't just a name on an email distribution list. She is a Qualitative Senior Scientist and the Manager of Qualitative Services at QualityMetric. To put it simply, she is an expert in the "why" and the "how" of human experience.
While many scientists live and die by numbers, qualitative researchers like Jackson focus on the stories and the language patients use. She has over 25 years of experience in research design and is well-known in the academic world as the lead author of Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo, which is basically the bible for researchers using software to organize massive amounts of interview data.
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At QualityMetric, her job is to make sure that when a company says a drug "improves quality of life," they aren't just making it up. She leads the teams that interview patients to ensure that the questions being asked in surveys actually matter to the people suffering from the disease.
The QualityMetric and IQVIA Connection
You might see the phrase QualityMetric, an IQVIA business. This is a relatively recent shift. For decades, QualityMetric was the "gold standard" independent shop for health surveys. They are the ones who developed the SF-36v2® Health Survey, which is probably the most used health survey in human history.
In 2023, the massive healthcare data giant IQVIA fully integrated QualityMetric into its ecosystem. Why does this matter to you? Because it combined the world’s best "voice of the patient" tools with the world’s largest healthcare data network.
- The Legacy: QualityMetric brought 30+ years of validated surveys.
- The Power: IQVIA brought the global reach to put those surveys in front of millions of patients.
- The Result: If you are a researcher today, you don't just "buy a survey." You access a whole marketplace of Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs) through the IQVIA platform.
Why Does "mailto: QualityMetric" Pop Up So Much?
If you are seeing "mailto" links associated with Kristi Jackson or QualityMetric, it’s usually because you’ve found a scientific abstract or a licensing portal. Because QualityMetric’s tools (like the SF-36 or the SF-12) are proprietary, you can't just copy-paste them into your study. You need a license.
Researchers often have to contact the scientific team—people like Jackson—to ensure they are using the right version of the survey for their specific patient group. Using the wrong survey is like using a ruler to measure weight; it’s scientifically useless.
The Science of "Feeling Better"
Let’s get into the weeds for a second. How do you prove a new migraine medication works? You can see if the inflammation goes down, sure. But the FDA wants to know: Can the patient go to work? Can they play with their kids?
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Jackson’s work involves Concept Elicitation. This is a fancy way of saying they sit down with patients and ask, "What does a bad day feel like?"
- Step A: Interview 30 people with a specific rare disease.
- Step B: Identify "themes" (like "brain fog" or "fear of falling").
- Step C: Build a survey that specifically asks about those themes.
- Step D: Psychometric testing to make sure the survey is actually consistent.
This process is what Kristi Jackson manages. It’s a bridge between the messy reality of being sick and the rigid world of clinical data.
Common Misconceptions About QualityMetric
A lot of people think QualityMetric is just a software company because they have an eCOA (Electronic Clinical Outcome Assessment) platform. That's a mistake. They are a scientific consultancy first. The software is just the bucket that holds the science.
Another big one? Thinking that IQVIA’s acquisition changed the science. From what we see in the 2025-2026 research outputs, the core scientific team—including experts like Jackson and others like Meaghan O'Connor or Mark Kosinski—remains the backbone of the operation. They’ve just moved into a bigger house.
What You Should Actually Do Next
If you are a researcher, a student, or a patient advocate looking at these names, here is the move:
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If you need to measure health outcomes: Don't just grab a random questionnaire. Check the IQVIA COA Marketplace. That’s where the QualityMetric legacy lives now. You can see which surveys are "validated"—meaning they’ve been proven to work in real-world trials.
If you are studying qualitative methods: Look up Kristi Jackson’s work on NVivo. Her approach to "transparency" in research is a game-changer for anyone trying to make sense of hundreds of hours of patient interviews.
If you are a patient: Know that when you fill out those tedious forms at the doctor or during a trial, there is a whole team of scientists like those at QualityMetric working to make sure your answers actually influence which drugs get approved.
The "mailto" link isn't just a contact point; it's the gateway to a massive library of human health data that has been decades in the making. Instead of just emailing blindly, start by browsing the official IQVIA Patient Centered Solutions page to see which specific tools fit your therapeutic area—whether it's oncology, rare disease, or mental health.