Prevention Clinical Improvement Team Final Report

Prevention is about taking steps to either avoid disease, such as with immunizations, or to screen for disease, catching it early stages when treatments are more likely to succeed.  These strategies reduce the potential for not only the financial but also the emotional burdens of disease.

In 2006, Washington State’s childhood immunization rates were 42nd in the nation. According to statistics compiled by the Commonwealth Fund, only 42% of adult Washingtonians over the age of 50 have received recommended preventive care—such as screening for colorectal cancer, mammograms, Pap smears, and flu shots—at appropriate ages. 

Report Summary

With the aim to improve the rate at which preventive care is delivered, the Prevention Clinical Improvement Team, made up of physicians and other providers, consumers, employers, and public health and policy experts, has completed and summarized its recommendations in its final report.

Given the broad nature of the topic of prevention, the team members selected a subset of topic areas for discussion for which there was the greatest need for improvement and/or that had the greatest potential impact on the health of the community. The six topics chosen were:

• Aspirin chemoprophylaxis
• Childhood immunizations
• Colorectal cancer screening
• Influenza immunizations
• Physical activity and nutrition
• Tobacco use

Though this list does not include all preventive strategies or services, it does target areas of high priority that could be useful in developing models and strategies for preventive care, in general.  In addition to making specific recommendations for Alliance stakeholders within each topic area, the team also made two general recommendations for prevention:

1. Providers should schedule a planned, regularly recurring preventive care visit for all patients, on an annual basis or on a schedule that best meets individual patient needs.  This visit should not replace preventive care services that are offered at each visit.  Health plans and employers should ensure coverage for preventive care visits.
2. Employers and health plans should use Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) to help consumers understand their personal health risks and develop a plan to improve their health.  Health Risk Assessments should always include mechanisms to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI); assess cardiovascular, diabetes, and depression risk; and record key measurements such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

To Order This Report    

Alliance Participants: download this report from the secure Participant-only section of this website.

All Others: contact the Alliance and enter "Prevention Clinical Improvement Team Report" in the Comments section of the contact us form.  A .pdf file of this report will be sent via return email.

Other Clinical Improvement Team Reports

• Asthma
• Depression
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Low Back Pain
• Prescription Drugs

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