About the USPSTF

Overview

• Introduction
• Introduction to the USPSTF — Slide Presentation—Updated
• Current Members
• Role of AHRQ Staff
• Role of Partners
• Impact of the Recommendations

First Annual Report to Congress

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force First Annual Report to Congress on High-Priority Evidence Gaps for Clinical Preventive Services

Each year, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) works to fulfill its mission of making evidence-based recommendations on clinical preventive services to empower health care professionals, health care systems, and the American people to make informed decisions about their health and health care. The Task Force makes its recommendations based on comprehensive, systematic reviews and careful assessment of the available medical evidence. Despite these efforts, the USPSTF is not always able to provide recommendations on topics of critical importance due to a lack of available evidence.

In its “First Annual Report to Congress on High-Priority Evidence Gaps for Clinical Preventive Services,” the USPSTF highlights 11 high-priority areas of clinical preventive health care services that the USPSTF believes deserve further examination. In response to a Congressional request, this report was delivered to Congress in October 2011 with the hope that it will assist public and private researchers and research funders to target their efforts so that together, they and the Task Force can improve clinical preventive health and health care for all Americans.

Click here to download the complete report: (PDF File, 768 KB; PDF Help)

Community Preventive Services Task Force First Annual Report to Congress and to Agencies Related to the Work of the Task Force

Concurrent with the release of the USPSTF's first Annual Report to Congress, the Community Preventive Services Task Force issued their first Report to Congress (available at http://www.thecommunityguide.org/library/ARC2011/). The report provides background on the Community Task Force, its methods, findings, and recommendations, and describes both gaps in existing research on community preventive services and priorities for future Task Force efforts.

The work of the USPSTF complements that of the Community Task Force, which makes recommendations to identify programs, services, and policies proven effective in a variety of real-world settings—such as communities, worksites, schools, and health plans. Taken together, the recommendations of the two Task Forces provide our nation with knowledge of how health is improved by prevention in both clinical and community settings. The two reports were submitted to Congress together to demonstrate the close collaboration of the two Task Forces, and to provide a full picture of our nation's prevention research needs.

More Information

For more information on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and to access Task Force recommendations and articles that summarize the evidence on which they are based, go to http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org.

To subscribe to the USPSTF subscription list, select the envelope icon at the top of this page. The list will keep you updated on draft and final recommendations and USPSTF activities.

To download the Electronic Preventive Services Selector (ePSS), a searchable PDA and online tool based on USPSTF recommendations, go to http://epss.ahrq.gov/.

To order print publications based on USPSTF recommendations, go to http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/pporder.htm.

For more information, contact:

Robert Cosby, Ph.D.
USPSTF Senior Project Coordinator
540 Gaither Road
Rockville, MD 20850

 

Note: USPSTF recommendations are made for asymptomatic populations; the recommendations made by the Task Force are not disease– or individual–specific. If you have concerns about your health, contact your medical care provider.

 

Current as of June 2012

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Internet Citation:

About the USPSTF. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. December 2010. http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/about.htm

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