The Health Utilities Index is designed to describe and to quantify the health status and the health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) of subjects. This validated and reliable instrument has been employed by over 100 research groups worldwide and exists in three formats (face-to-face interview, telephone interview and self-administration). Translations into several languages are also available. As a generic preference-weighted system, the Health Utilities Index not only measures and describes health status, but also provides a quantitative measure of HRQOL as a single summary score based on community preferences for health status. The score, founded on utility theory and anchored to the conventional 0 - 1 (dead - healthy) scale, is appropriate as a quality-weight in the calculation of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Given that QALYs have been recognized as a universal measure for use in cost-effectiveness / cost-utility analyses and are recommended in the reporting and monitoring of population health, this instrument has wide ranging applications in outcomes and health economic research. This workshop will provide an introduction to the Health Utilities Index and focus on its practical application. We will describe our experiences as they relate to issues such as frequency and mode of administration, patient recall, compliance, sample size considerations, data analysis and interpretation. Citing previous studies, this workshop will demonstrate how the Health Utilities Index can be utilized in prospective clinical research, patient surveys and as a means for developing utility estimates in retrospective health economic models. Researchers and analysts involved in quality-of-life and health economic evaluations will gain a working knowledge of the Health Utilities Index and an appreciation of its diversified use as a generic HRQOL instrument.