PUT PREVENTION INTO PRACTICE (PPIP) was the theme of the May 1995 meeting of the National Coordinating Committee on Clinical Preventive Services (NCCCPS). The mission of the NCCCPS is to provide leadership in the implementation of clinical preventive services by examining barriers to service delivery and developing potential solutions to overcome these barriers. The NCCCPS serves as the advisory body for the Public Health Service's (PHS) initiative, PPIP, which was launched August 4, 1994, by Secretary Donna Shalala, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In his opening remarks at the 15th meeting of the NCCCPS, J. Michael McGinnis, M.D., former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Disease Prevention and Health Promotion), conveyed the message that PPIP is the only government program that provides a systematic, comprehensive approach designed to improve the delivery of clinical preventive services by involving providers, consumers, and the delivery system. PPIP will help achieve the goal of increasing the healthy lifespan of all Americans by making preventive care a routine and standard part of medical practice.
The focus of the meeting was on the implementation, evaluation, and further development of PPIP by cooperative agreement partners. Discussion of evaluation activities included presentations by Battelle, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Dr. Donald Gemson. Battelle developed the research design and evaluation tools used to study the effectiveness of PPIP implementation. The initial study of PPIP conducted by Dr. Gemson at Harlem Hospital will be published in an upcoming issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Findings demonstrated a significant increase in prevention practices and knowledge of physicians and an increase in services received by patients.
In recent months, a task force consisting of several major managed care organizations was set up by the PHS. It is their objective to develop a set of common requirements for the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of automated prevention information systems. Dr. Kevin Patrick and Dr. Linda Harris presented this group's work and showed how PPIP is the foundation upon which these requirements are based.
Other applications include the development of the PPIP home page on the Internet's World Wide Web. This site provides the information and communication necessary to strengthen PPIP activities. Interaction is based on several categories that cover interests of the provider, consumer, organization, educator, and researcher. Future announcements and materials will be disseminated through the WWW home page. To view the PPIP home page, use the following address: http://www.os.dhhs.gov:81/PPIP/
Closing presentations focused on the recent changes to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)'s Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, the update to Chapter 21 of the Healthy People 2000 Midcourse Review and 1995 Revisions, and the upcoming report from the Cost Effectiveness Panel.
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