U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
Created in 1984, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF or Task Force) is an independent group of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine that works to improve the health of all Americans by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings, counseling services, or preventive medications. The USPSTF is made up of 16 volunteer members who come from the fields of preventive medicine and primary care, including internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, obstetrics/gynecology, and nursing. All members volunteer their time to serve on the USPSTF, and most are practicing clinicians.
When Congress authorized the USPSTF, it required the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support the Task Force's work. The 1998 Public Health Service Act and the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act instruct AHRQ to provide administrative, research, technical, and communication support to the Task Force. As part of this support, AHRQ helps with day-to-day operations, coordinates the production of evidence reports, ensures consistent use of Task Force methods, and helps disseminate Task Force materials and recommendations. The Director of AHRQ also appoints new USPSTF members, with guidance from the Chair of the Task Force. While AHRQ staff supports the Task Force, it is important to note that the Task Force is an independent body, and its work does not require AHRQ or HHS approval.
For more information about the USPSTF and its recommendations, go to http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/.
To nominate a new member of the USPSTF, go to http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/clinicians-providers/guidelines-recommendations/uspstf/nominate.html.
The following resources related to the USPSTF's recommendations are also available:
- Guide to Clinical Preventive Services
- Electronic Preventive Services Selector
- Implementing USPSTF Recommendations Into Health Professions Education
- Partnership for Health Clinician Fact Sheets: Cardiovascular Diseases
- "Stay Healthy" Series:
- Men: Stay Healthy at 50+ (PDF version - 868.59 KB )
also available en español - Women: Stay Healthy at 50+ (PDF version - 851.24 KB )
also available en español (PDF version - 112.7 KB ) - Men: Stay Healthy at Any Age (PDF version - 1.19 MB )
also available en español (PDF version - 406.29 KB ) - Women: Stay Healthy at Any Age (PDF version - 988.18 KB )
also available en español (PDF version - 322.09 KB )
- Men: Stay Healthy at 50+ (PDF version - 868.59 KB )
The following AHRQ Annual Conference presentations related to the USPSTF and USPSTF recommendations are available:
America's "Growth Spurt": Screening and Treatment of Overweight Children and Adolescents in Primary Care – 2010
- Screening for Obesity in Pediatric Primary Care: Recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 249.58 KB )
David Grossman, Group Health Research Institute - Intervention in Primary Care for Obese Children (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 834.5 KB )
Ellen Wald, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Improving Preventive Health Care for Older Americans – 2010
- Improving Preventive Care for Older Americans: Oregon Evidence-Based Practice Center/Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 1,006.75 KB )
Elizabeth Eckstrom, Oregon Health & Science University - Preventive Health Care for Older Adults: Framing the Issue (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 146.31 KB )
Roseanne Leipzig, Mount Sinai School of Medicine - Improving Preventive Health Care for Older Americans (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 506.59 KB )
Marcel Salive, National Institute on Aging
What Not to Do in Primary Care: Overuse of Preventive Services – 2009
- Too Much Prevention: What Not to Do in the Primary Care Setting (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 1.66 MB )
Shannon Brownlee, New America Foundation - What Not to Do in Primary Care: Overuse of Preventive Services (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 1.12 MB )
Michael LeFevre, University of Missouri-Columbia
Improving Preventive Health Care: Success Stories – 2009
- Improving Preventive Health Care Success Stories: USPSTF and ePSS at San Francisco General Hospital (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 6.76 MB )
Alice Chen, University of California, San Francisco - myhealthfinder: Making USPSTF Recommendations Accessible to the Public (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 6.21 MB )
Sandra Williams Hilfiker, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - GE's Healthy Worksite Initiative and NBGH Purchaser's Guide Employer Toolkit (Microsoft PowerPoint version - 7.27 MB )
Adam Malinoski, General Electric Company
Mark Russo, General Electric Company
Page originally created June 2014