25 Steps To Better Health
The Partnership for Prevention has released a report listing the top 25 preventive health services.
The report, "Priorities for America's Health: Capitalizing on Life-Saving, Cost-Effective Preventive Strategies," was funded by the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
"Currently, about 95 percent of health care dollars in the United States are spent on treating diseases, with relatively little attention paid to preventing diseases, which should be a national priority," states former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., in a Partnership for Prevention news release.
"Basically, these are the preventive health services that offer the biggest bang for the buck," says Satcher, who chaired the panel that drafted the list.
List of Top 25 Preventive Health Services
Here is the report's list of the top 25 preventive health services, along with the score assigned by the panel (with 10 being the highest score):
About the List
A 24-member panel of experts created the list. Those experts came from health insurance plans, an employer group, academia, clinical practice, and government health agencies.
The panel created the list and scores based on two factors:
The Partnership for Prevention is a national, nonprofit organization. Its members include several state health departments, health organizations (including the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, and March of Dimes), and several drug and insurance companies.
SOURCES: Partnership for Prevention, "Priorities for America's Health: Capitalizing on Life-Saving, Cost-Effective Preventive Services." Partnership for Prevention: "Members of Partnership for Prevention." News release, Partnership for
Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang, M.D.
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