The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality links prevention research with clinical practice by sponsoring the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the Put Prevention Into Practice program.
The Task Force, an independent panel of experts in primary health care and prevention, systematically reviews the evidence of effectiveness of a wide range of preventive services, including screening, counseling, and chemoprevention. Its recommendations inform clinicians which preventive services they should routinely provide to their patients as part of primary health care. The Task Force is widely regarded as the gold standard for clinical prevention.
The PPIP program provides clear guidance to clinicians who want to deliver services recommended by the Task Force in clinical practice and tells patients which preventive services they should expect their health care professionals to provide. PPIP resources also help patients understand what they can do to stay healthy and to keep track of their preventive care.
Task Force recommendations are used by clinicians, professional societies, health plans and insurers, policymakers, and educators. The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Third Edition: Periodic Updates, includes the most current recommendations from the Task Force, available in semi-annual installments in handy three-ring binders.
PPIP tools include health guides for patients and implementation resources for clinicians and others who work in a clinical setting, including the well-received Step-by Step Guide to Delivering Clinical Preventive Services: A Systems Approach.
Task Force recommendations, supporting evidence, and PPIP resources are all available online (www.ahrq.gov/clinic/prevenix.htm) and in print (call the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at 1-800-358-9295).
The goals of AHRQ in sponsoring the Task Force and PPIP are to provide the evidence base for the clinical preventive services delivered in the primary care setting, and to integrate these services into the delivery of prevention and primary care. For more information, contact Hazel Keimowitz at AHRQ at (301) 594-6393 or HKeimowi@ahrq.gov.
Sign up for the AHRQ Prevention Program LISTSERV® to learn about new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations and Put Prevention Into Practice resources by following these three simple steps:
- Send an E-mail message to: listserv@list.ahrq.gov
- In the subject line, type: Subscribe
- In the body of the message, type:
SUBSCRIBE AHRQ_PREVENTIONPROGRAMUPDATES Your Name
