American journal of preventive medicine
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The U. S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) provides independent, objective, and scientifically rigorous recommendations for clinical preventive services. ⋯ Conflicts of interest is solicited from all members every 4 months, formally reviewed, adjudicated, and made publicly available. The USPSTF conflicts of interest policy is publicly available as part of the USPSTF Procedure Manual. A continuous improvement process can be applied to conflicts of interest policies to enhance public trust in members of panels, such as the USPSTF, that produce clinical guidelines and recommendations.
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To encourage greater utilization of preventive services among Medicare beneficiaries, the 2010 Affordable Care Act waived coinsurance for the Welcome to Medicare visit, making this benefit free starting in 2011. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of the Affordable Care Act on Welcome to Medicare visit utilization. ⋯ The Affordable Care Act, and perhaps the removal of cost sharing, was associated with increased use of the Welcome to Medicare visit; however, even with the increased use, there is room for improvement.
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The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of incorporating a mobile application, Stay Quit Coach, into an integrated care smoking-cessation treatment protocol for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). ⋯ Although results must be interpreted with caution given the lack of control group and small sample size, findings indicate that integrating Stay Quit Coach into integrated care was feasible and acceptable.
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The U. S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) makes recommendations about clinical preventive services. ⋯ The USPSTF annual report to Congress focuses on the evidence gaps of new recommendations from the past year and is sent to leading research funding agencies. The Office of Disease Prevention at NIH uses this report to help direct future funding opportunities that may address these evidence gaps. The USPSTF plays a critical role in highlighting the information needed to advance the science to optimize the use of clinical preventive services in primary care.