Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, 2008

Foreword

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is pleased to present The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services 2008, the annually updated pocket guide that puts evidence-based, "gold-standard" recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) at your fingertips. The 2008 Guide offers recommendations on 65 clinical preventive services made by the Task Force from 2001 to March 2008.

The USPSTF recommendations are routinely used to provide high-quality and appropriate preventive care. The U.S. Department of Defense recently changed its policy of providing routine physical examinations for active duty and reserve military personnel every 5 years. Instead, it now directs military health providers to perform a periodic health assessment that is based on U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations.

The Guide is also being used to improve how preventive services are delivered and their outcomes. For example, Community Care of North Carolina, a Medicaid quality improvement program of the State's Office of Rural Health, is using USPSTF recommendations in a pilot program that began in the fall of 2007. The program uses integrated models of care in which physical and mental health care are being merged in primary care settings. The State used the Task Force recommendations to develop a database that tracks activities of the health provider in mental health settings, collecting data on: blood pressure; cholesterol; health risk counseling; screenings for colorectal, cervical, and breast cancer, HIV, and other conditions; and 3-, 6-, and 9-month followup screenings and action plans.

The Task Force recommendations also are a mainstay in educating clinicians about preventive care. For example, in the "Preventive and Behavioral Medicine" course for physician assistant students at Wichita State University, the USPSTF recommendations serve as the foundation of the curriculum. Each student receives the most up-to-date Guide, and he or she must know its contents to pass the course.

The recommendations and clinical considerations in the Guide can help you work in partnership with your patients to make better-informed decisions about preventive services, and it can help you improve the care that you provide. The recommendations in this Guide are a valuable tool that clinicians can use to help their patients remain healthy and to improve the quality of our health care system.

Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D.
Director
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

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