About USPSTF

The New U.S. Preventive Services Task Force


The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) was convened by the U.S. Public Health Service to rigorously evaluate clinical research in order to assess the merits of preventive measures, including screening tests, counseling, immunizations, and chemoprevention. The Task Force's pioneering efforts culminated in the 1989 Guide to Clinical Preventive Services. A second edition of the Guide was published in 1996.

Now, a new USPSTF is updating assessments and recommendations and addressing new topics. The Center for Practice and Technology Assessment (CPTA), of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), oversees operation of the USPSTF.

Background and Mission / Impact of the USPSTF / Current Activity / Task Force Members /
Biographical Sketches / Scientific Support and Outside Partners / For More Information


Background and Mission

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an independent panel of private-sector experts in primary care and prevention, was first convened by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1984 to systematically review the evidence of effectiveness of clinical preventive services. These included:

The mission of the Task Force is:

The pioneering efforts of the Task Force to develop evidence-based recommendations covering a broad range of clinical preventive care culminated in the 1989 (first edition) and 1996 (second edition) Guide to Clinical Preventive Services. The second edition of the Guide included assessments of more than 200 services offered in primary care settings for adults, pregnant women, and children.

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Impact of the USPSTF

Over time, the audience for the work of the USPSTF has expanded well beyond the original target of primary care physicians and nurses. USPSTF recommendations have formed the basis of clinical guidelines developed by professional societies, have helped guide the coverage policies of many health plans and insurers, and have figured prominently in the development of health care quality measures and national health objectives.

The Guide has been used widely in undergraduate and post-graduate medical and nursing education as a key reference for teaching preventive care.

The work of the USPSTF documenting the strong evidence supporting many preventive services has helped further the steady progress over the past decade in awareness, delivery, and coverage of preventive care as an integral part of quality primary health care. Conversely, its attention to gaps in the evidence for other preventive services has helped focus the research agenda.

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Current Activity

In November 1998, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (then the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research) convened the current USPSTF to update existing Task Force assessments and recommendations and to address new topics.

Individual reports will be released both in print and on the AHRQ Web site as they are completed. Release of Task Force recommendations and the supporting evidence began in the spring of 2001.

AHRQ's Put Prevention Into Practice (PPIP) program also will work to implement Task Force recommendations and to increase the appropriate use of clinical preventive services through a variety of resources and tools for clinicians, health care systems, patients, and the public.

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Task Force Members

The USPSTF consists of 15 experts from the specialties of family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, preventive medicine, public health, behavioral medicine, and nursing.

Members of the Task Force, listed below, were selected from more than 80 nominees, based on recognized expertise in prevention, evidence-based medicine, and primary care.

Bruce N. Calonge, M.D., M.P.H. (Chair)
Acting Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, CO

Janet D. Allan, Ph.D., R.N., C.S. (Vice Chair)
Dean, School of Nursing
University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD

Alfred O. Berg, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor and Chair, Department of Family Medicine
University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Paul Frame, M.D.
Tri-County Family Medicine, Cohocton, NY
Clinical Professor of Family Medicine
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY

Leon Gordis M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H.
Professor of Epidemiology and Pediatrics
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Kimberly Gregory, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Women's Health Services Research
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Russell Harris, M.D., M.PH.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Sheps Center for Health Services Research
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC

Mark S. Johnson, M.D., M.P.H.
Chair, Department of Family Medicine
UMD-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ

Jonathan D. Klein, M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Preventive and Community Medicine
University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester NY

Carol J. Loveland-Cherry, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N.
Professor and Executive Associate Dean, School of Nursing
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Virginia Moyer, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor, Associate Director, Clinical Associate Professor
Center for Clinical Research and Evidence Based Medicine
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston TX

Judith Ockene, Ph.D., M.Ed.
Professor of Medicine
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA

Diana B. Petitti, M.D., M.P.H.
Director of Research and Evaluation
Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA

Albert L. Siu, M.D., M.S.P.H.
Professor and Chairman
Mount Sinai Medical School, New York, NY

Steven M. Teutsch, M.D., M.P.H.
Executive Director, Outcomes Research and Management
Merck & Co., Inc., West Point, PA

Barbara Yawn, M.D., M.Sc.
Director of Research
Olmsted Medical Center, Rochester, MN

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Scientific Support and Outside Partners

In its work of evaluating the effectiveness of new preventive services and updating existing USPSTF recommendations, the Task Force is supported by outside experts and Oregon Health & Science University, one of AHRQ's Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs).

This EPC:

Outside experts who provide extensive peer review of draft reports are drawn from the clinical professions, public health, epidemiology, health promotion, and education. Liaisons from the major primary care societies and from Public Health Service agencies contribute their expertise to the assessment process, provide peer review of draft documents, and help disseminate the work of the USPSTF to their members.

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For More Information

Select to access the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, second edition. Chapters in the third edition will be released individually on the AHRQ Web site as they are completed, and incrementally in the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Third Edition: Periodic Updates*.

*The publication number for the Periodic Updates is APPIP02-0001. The price of a subscription to the entire series of new Task Force recommendations and chapters is $60.

To order a printed copy of the second edition of the Guide and copies of chapters for the third edition as they become available, contact the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at 1-800-358-9295 or E-mail ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov. The stock number of the second edition is OM97-0001. The single copy price is $20.

For other information, contact:

Gurvaneet Randhawa, M.D., M.P.H.
Chief Medical Officer & Program Director, USPSTF
Center for Primary Care, Prevention & Clinical Partnerships
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850
Phone:(301) 427-1606
Fax:(301) 427-1597
E-mail: GRandhaw@ahrq.gov

Barbara Gordon
Administrative Coordinator
Center for Outcomes and Evidence
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
540 Gaither Road, Suite 6000
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: (301) 427-1636
Fax: (301) 427-1595
E-mail: BGordon1@ahrq.gov

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AHRQ Publication No. 00-P046
Revised January 2003


Internet Citation:

About USPSTF. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. AHRQ Publication No. 00-P046, January 2003. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstfab.htm


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