Clinician's Handbook of Preventive Services, 2nd Edition

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
OFFICE OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SCIENCE
OFFICE OF DISEASE PREVENTION AND HEALTH PROMOTION

1998

For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office
Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328
ISBN 0-16-049227-0

It is my pleasure to present the second edition of the Clinician's Handbook of Preventive Services, an updated and expanded version of the original text. This handbook is the cornerstone of the Put Prevention Into Practice (PPIP) campaign. Since its introduction in 1994, PPIP has provided clinicians with helpful information and practical tools for adopting a non-categorical, systematic approach to the delivery of clinical preventive services. PPIP has been a welcome addition to many clinical practices, helping to improve the delivery of clinical preventive services.

Over the past 200 years, public health and preventive medicine efforts have dramatically improved health and well-being in the United States. Life expectancy has steadily increased; however, the vast majority of premature death and disability in our country results from preventable causes. Furthermore, unacceptable discrepancies in health and longevity between sub-populations still remain in our nation. Improved delivery of clinical preventive services can help resolve these discrepancies.

Unfortunately, barriers to the delivery of clinical preventive services continue to exist. Many missed opportunities for prevention can be attributed to the lack of a prevention plan and a reference resource for prevention. The Clinician's Handbook of Preventive Services provides practical information for developing and implementing a prevention plan tailored to the needs of clinicians in a variety of settings. I hope this edition of the Clinician's Handbook will prove to be a useful tool for clinicians as they work to improve the health of all Americans.

Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health
September 1997