Clinical Preventive Services Rankings

On May 16, 2006, the National Commission on Prevention Priorities, HealthPartners Research Foundation and Partnership for Prevention unveiled new research that ranks 25 preventive health care services proven to be effective based on the clinical health benefit (or number of lives saved and increased quality of life) and cost-effectiveness (or the costs necessary to achieve health benefits). The report, Priorities for Americas Health: Capitalizing on Life-Saving, Cost-Effective Preventive Services, finds that colorectal cancer screening, smoking cessation interventions, Chlamydia screening and pneumococcal immunizations are the most beneficial to health and the most cost-effective, yet are being delivered to less than half of Americans. Learn more about all of the findings in the Executive Summary.

This research is important because health plans, providers, purchasers, policymakers and patients need evidence-based information to help them make the best decisions about their health care. For many years, we have been taught that every preventive service is worthy of our attention. The reality is that limited time and constrained budgets make doing everything impossible. The rankings will help us make better decisions. If they are followed in clinical practice, the result will be better health for more Americans and rational and evidence-based curtailed health care spending. The Alliance of Community Health Plans, Partnership for Prevention and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have joined together to promote this important new research. Read more about our project at the links below. For additional information about ACHP's project in support of the new preventive services rankings, please contact John Spiegel at 202.785.2247 or jspiegel@achp.org.