Strategic Goal Highlights
We accomplish our strategic goals by managing and delivering hundreds of programs across several disciplines. Our ability to meet the health and human service needs of Americans is tied directly to the commitment, cooperation, and success generated by our employees and partners, such as other Federal agencies, State and local governments, tribal organizations, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, and the business community. The accomplishments described below, as related to our four strategic goals, represent highlights of our accomplishments. We believe that these accomplishments demonstrate progress toward achievement of our mission and strategic goals. As a major grant-making agency, in many cases our outcomes are influenced by outside parties and partnership efforts with State and Local governments and private organizations. We have provided the latest information available. More detailed performance results will be published in our Annual Performance Report, available online February 4, 2008 at www.hhs.gov Improvements to the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. In FY 2006, 90 percent of beneficiaries had prescription drug coverage through Medicare Part D or other sources. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services continues to make improvements to the Medicare prescription drug benefit, including streamlining processes, enhancing choices for beneficiaries, and improving relationships with States and pharmacists. Medicaid Modernization Efforts. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are exploring innovative ways to make the Medicaid program more sustainable over time. Some Medicaid modernization activities include increasing the number of individuals transitioned from institutions to communities, promoting private long-term care insurance coverage, and working with States to give Medicaid beneficiaries access to modern health insurance products. Drug Safety. In March 2007, the Food and Drug Administration issued final guidance that describes the current approach to communicating drug safety information to the public. Our drug safety communications are directed toward patients and health professionals. Additional information, including patient and health care professional fact sheets and alerts can be accessed through MedWatch, which is a safety information and reporting program: www.fda.gov/Medwatch/index.html Access to Recovery. In 2003, President Bush announced the Access to Recovery initiative to increase the Nation’s capacity to provide substance abuse treatment and recovery support services. The initiative is a 3‑year grant program which ensures free and independent client choice of providers through the use of vouchers and improved access to a comprehensive array of clinical treatment and recovery support services. As of June 30, 2007, the program had provided services to 190,734 clients, 53 percent above the original three-year target of 125,000 clients. In FY 2007, a new cohort of 24 grantees was funded which is expected to serve approximately 160,000 clients over the 3‑year grant period. Improved Healthcare Cost Information. Data collected through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Medical Expenditure Panel Survey is used extensively by providers, consumers, and policymakers to identify areas for improving the value of the current U.S. health care system. This data has been used to determine the costs of alternative health insurance policies, and the cost of care to individual consumers. The data are also used in the computation of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Expanded Access to Healthcare. We have expanded access to care for the Nation’s low-income, underserved, and medically vulnerable populations. In FY 2007, the Health Resources and Services Administration funded 337 new or significantly expanded health care sites, for a total of more than 4,000 service delivery sites nationwide. Additionally, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program’s State AIDS Drug Assistance Program has ensured that more than 157,988 individuals received essential HIV/AIDS medications in FY 2006. Healthy Lifestyles. The percentage of premature heart disease deaths in American Indians and Alaska Natives exceeds other ethnic groups. In FY 2007, the Indian Health Service established a baseline rate of 30 percent for a comprehensive cardiovascular disease-related assessment measure to ensure that all individuals 22 years and older who have ischemic heart disease receive appropriate screenings related to cardiovascular health. This proactive approach, which includes education and counseling to promote lifelong healthy behaviors, is essential to address the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and smoking rates in the American Indian and Alaska Native population. top of page Protection from infectious disease threats. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Global Disease Detection program works with international partners to protect Americans from infectious disease threats. The program has been strengthening the global influenza surveillance network through bilateral support to 12 countries and enhanced communications and laboratory capabilities in five strategic countries (Thailand, Kenya, Guatemala, China, and Egypt). All five Response Centers have implemented pandemic influenza preparedness activities, including training and equipping hundreds of response teams. In FY 2006, the program responded with antitoxin to one of the largest reported outbreaks of botulism in Thailand. Plans include enhanced preparedness for pandemic influenza by establishing influenza networks globally through bilateral cooperative agreements. The global networks will actively produce usable samples for testing as measured by geographic and population coverage. Mitigation of Health Risks or Disease. The Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry gathers information at sites that pose urgent or public health hazards and then tracks the sites where human health risks or disease have been mitigated. Since FY 2006, information indicates that health risks or disease were mitigated at 65 percent of its urgent and public hazard sites. We respond to toxic substance releases when they occur or as they are discovered and provide recommendations for protecting public health to the Environmental Protection Agency, State regulatory agencies, or private agencies. Four consecutive years of performance data indicate increase in the percentage of adopted recommendations. The Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry established a long-term target of 87 percent adopted recommendations by 2012. Improved Protection through Immunizations and Vaccines. In April 2007, the Food and Drug Administration announced the first approval in the United States of a vaccine for humans against the H5N1 influenza virus, commonly known as avian or bird flu. We have purchased the vaccine for inclusion within the National Stockpile for distribution by public health officials. For more information on the government's preparedness efforts, visit: www.pandemicflu.gov. A study published in the Archive of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine indicates that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization efforts have resulted in cost savings through the dissemination of seven vaccines. An economic evaluation of the impact of seven vaccines (Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis, Tetanus and Diphtheria, bacterial meningitis , polio, Measles Mumps Rubella, hepatitis B, and chicken pox) routinely given as part of the childhood immunization schedule found that vaccines are extremely cost effective. Childhood vaccination with the seven tested vaccines, which prevent more than 14 million cases of disease and more than 33,000 deaths over the lifetime of children born in any given year, resulted in annual savings of $9.9 billion in direct medical costs and more than $33.4 billion in indirect societal costs. Preventive Care and Assessments. The Indian Health Service continues to support and provide technical assistance to Tribes in the development of programs to address violence against women by funding 16 new local programs, for a total of 30. These programs provide for the development and implementation of domestic violence screening policies and procedures, and staff development to ascertain information in a culturally appropriate manner. They also provide resources for community support for women and families in need. Through marketing and incorporating domestic violence screening as a routine part of women’s health care, the screening rate has increased from 13 percent in FY 2005 to 36 percent in FY 2007. Veteran Suicide Hotline. On July 25, 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration collaboratively launched a new suicide hotline initiative for veterans. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) began offering veterans an option to be routed to a special call center staffed by counselors with special training on veterans’ mental health needs and resources. top of page Welfare Reform. In FY 2006, 32 percent of adult Temporary Assistance to Needy Families recipients were working (including unsubsidized employment and work preparation), compared with less than 7 percent in 1992 and 11 percent in 1996. The recent welfare reform reauthorization and the interim final regulations published in June 2006 set forth a more meaningful work participation rate so that more families will achieve self-sufficiency. The new regulations further strengthen work participation requirements. Child Support Enforcement Program. The number of child support cases with support orders rose to 12 million out of 15.9 million cases in FY 2005. Preliminary data indicate this program distributed $23.9 billion in child support in FY 2006, representing a 4 percent increase over FY 2005. Long-Term Care.The Administration on Aging helps seniors remain in their homes and communities by providing a variety of supportive, nutrition, and caregiver services and by implementing initiatives to create greater balance in long-term care, to improve access, and to emphasize prevention. Aging and Disability Resource Centers, funded in partnership with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, provide consumers in 43 States with objective information about their care options and help States to streamline access and control costs. Evidence-based Disease Prevention projects assist aging service provider organizations in 48 communities to translate research findings into high-quality preventive interventions targeted to seniors. top of page Pharmaceutical Outcomes Portfolio. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality launched the Effective Health Care Program to help patients, health care providers, and policymakers make informed health care decisions by providing current, unbiased, high-quality research that can inform these decisions. National Institutes of Health-sponsored Clinical Trial. The initial results of an ongoing clinical trial suggest that more HIV-infected infants survive if they are given therapy early on, regardless of their apparent state of health. Because these findings should cause experts to consider changes in standards of care, details of the interim results have been released to the World Health Organization, local ethics committees, regulatory authorities and other key stakeholders for their consideration and evaluation for possible implementation. The current standard of HIV care in many parts of the world is to treat infants with therapy only after signs of illness or a weakened immune system. Female Childhood Sexual Abuse Study. A new study has shown that girls who suffered childhood sexual abuse are more likely to develop alcoholism later in life if they possess a particular variant of a gene involved in the body’s response to stress. The new finding could help explain why some individuals are more resilient to profound childhood trauma than others. This finding underscores the central role that gene-environment interactions play in the pathogenesis of complex diseases such as alcoholism. Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder Study. A new study has found that boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder had higher levels of hormones involved with growth in comparison to boys who do not have autism. The finding is a promising new lead in the quest to understand autism. Online Registry of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Interventions. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration launched its expanded National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices in March 2007. It is a searchable online registry of independently reviewed and rated mental health and substance abuse interventions. The purpose of this registry is to assist the public in identifying scientifically tested approaches to preventing and treating mental and substance use disorders that can be readily disseminated to the field. During FY 2007, approximately 50 interventions were reviewed and included in the registry, and roughly 90 additional interventions previously determined to be effective were transitioned to the new Web site (www.nrepp.Samhsa.gov).
Date of Report: November 15, 2007
AFR Section I Links:top of page
| 
Print 
Download Reader 
HHS Home|About HHS|Contact Us
