letter from the editor: what is the u.s. preventive services task force?
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Author's Accepted Manuscript
Letter from the Editor: What is the U.S. PreventiveServices Task Force?
Jannette Collins MD, MEd, FCCP, FACR
PII: S0037-198X(14)00011-XDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.ro.2014.02.004Reference: YSROE50465
To appear in: Seminar in Roentgenology
Cite this article as: Jannette Collins MD, MEd, FCCP, FACR, Letter from the Editor: Whatis the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force?, Seminar in Roentgenology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.ro.2014.02.004
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April 2015
Letter from the Editor: What is the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force?
Created in 1984, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is an independent, volunteer
panel of national experts in preventive and evidence‐based medicine [1]. The Task Force makes
evidence‐based recommendations about the use of screening exams, counseling services, and
preventive medications. The Task Force’s 16 members come from the fields of internal medicine, family
medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, obstetrics/gynecology, and nursing. Their recommendations are
based on a rigorous review of existing peer‐reviewed evidence and are intended to help primary care
clinicians and patients decide together whether a preventive service is right for a patient’s needs.
Since 1998, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has been authorized by the
U.S. Congress to convene the Task Force and to provide ongoing scientific, administrative, and
dissemination support to the Task Force [2]. The Director of AHRQ also appoints new USPSTF members,
with guidance from the Chair of the Task Force. Most of the members are practicing clinicians.
However, the membership also includes non‐clinicians who are experts and/or hold high level
administrative positions in public health, behavioral medicine, and epidemiology/biostatistics. None of
the members are radiologists. In 2009, the USPSTF changed its recommendations for screening
mammography. The American College of Radiology (ACR) and Society of breast Imaging faulted the
USPSTF for not including a board‐certified radiologist who had experience with breast imaging on the
panel that rendered the decision [3]. In 2008, the USPSTF determined that not enough clinical research
on CT colonography had been published to make a recommendation for or against the procedure for
screening for colorectal cancer. This decision led to a non‐coverage determination by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for Medicare coverage of screening CT colonography.
Interested individuals can self‐nominate and organizations and individuals may nominate one or
more persons qualified for membership on the USPSTF. New members are chosen annually and each
term is four years. Members meet three times a year for 2 days in the Washington, DC area and devote
approximately 200 hours a year outside of in‐person meetings to their USPSTF duties. Qualified
applicants and nominees must, at a minimum, demonstrate knowledge, expertise, and national
leadership in three areas: 1) critical evaluation of research published in peer‐reviewed literature and the
methods of evidence review; 2) clinical prevention, health promotion, and primary health care; and 3)
implementation of evidence‐based recommendations in clinical practice [4]. Applicants must have no
substantial conflicts of interest, whether financial, professional, or intellectual.
The Task Force assigns each recommendation a letter grade of A, B, C, or D grade or an I
statement based on the strength of the evidence and the balance of benefits and harms of a preventive
service [5]. The USPSTF recommends a service be offered or provided if it is given a grade of A or B. The
recommendations apply only to people who have no signs or symptoms of the specific disease or
condition under evaluation, and the recommendations address only services offered in the primary care
setting or services referred by a primary care clinician [1]. Recommendations are based on maintenance
of health and quality of life, not simply the identification of disease. Individuals and organizations can
nominate a topic online for the USPSTF to consider [6].
As of January 2014, the USPSTF listed A or B grades for 4 services that involved radiologic
imaging [7]: 1) lung cancer screening with low‐dose CT in adults ages 55 to 80 years who have a 30 pack‐
year smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years, 2) Dual‐energy X‐ray
absorptiometry (DXA) of the hip and spine in women age 65 years and older and in younger women
whose fracture risk is equal to or greater than that of a 65‐year‐old white woman who has no additional
risk factors (a lack of evidence existed regarding screening interval), 3) one‐time screening for abdominal
aortic aneurysm by ultrasonography in men ages 65 to 75 years who have ever smoked, and 4) biennial
screening mammography for women aged 50‐74 [8] (Note that the Department of Health and Human
Services, in implementing the Affordable Care Act under the standard it sets out in revised Section
2713(a)(5) of the Public Health Service Act, utilized the 2002 USPSTF recommendation on breast cancer
screening, which was screening mammography every 1 to 2 years for women age 40 years and older). In
January 2014, the USPSTF issued a draft Recommendation Statement on the use of ultrasound to screen
for abdominal aortic ultrasound that was unchanged from the current recommendation [9].
The Affordable Care Act established a new benefit that began January 1, 2011, through
which beneficiaries are eligible to receive an annual wellness visit that focuses on establishing a
personalized prevention plan [10]. CMS defined the specific elements required to be provided
during the visit, as well as the eligible population. Ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic
aneurysm, screening mammography, and DXA bone mass measurements are among the services
covered by Medicare for approved patient populations. The copayment/coinsurance and
deductibles are waived. Because the USPSTF has issued a Grade B Recommendation for CT lung
cancer screening, Medicare and private health care insurers must cover this screening service to
comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It is assumed that Medicare will pay
for the service in full, meaning that beneficiaries do not have to contribute the usual 20 percent co‐
payment nor pay toward any deductible that they had yet to meet.
In an effort to make its recommendations clearer and its processes more transparent, the
USPSTF started posting draft Recommendation Statements online for public comment in 2010 [11].
During one of its in‐person meetings, the entire USPSTF reviews the evidence, evaluates the benefits
and harms of the clinical preventive service, and discusses and develops one or more specific
recommendations. After the meeting, the topic leads write a full draft Recommendation Statement,
which is posted on the USPSTF Website for public comment for 4 weeks. Revisions may be made after
review of comments. The final Recommendation Statement is then reviewed and voted on by the full
Task Force, and posted on its Website. In February 2014, the USPSTF issued a draft Recommendation
Statement against screening for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (CAS) in the general adult
population [12], stating that the most feasible screening test for CAS (defined as 60% to 99% stenosis) is
ultrasonography and that in practice, ultrasonography yields many false‐positive results in the general
population, where CAS is low in prevalence (0.5% to 1%). The draft statement went on to say that
although screening with ultrasonography has few direct harms, all screening strategies, including those
with or without confirmatory tests (e.g., digital subtraction or magnetic resonance angiography), have
imperfect sensitivity and specificity and could lead to unnecessary interventions and result in serious
harms. The ACR and numerous other organizations also recommended against the use of carotid
ultrasonography for routine screening of asymptomatic patients with no clinical manifestations of or risk
factors for atherosclerosis [13].
The USPSTF posted online a fact sheet for primary care physicians to use in implementing a lung
cancer screening program and discussing lung cancer screening with patients [14]. It offers talking
points for three patient scenarios: 1) current smokers between ages 55 and 80 who have smoked 30
pack‐years and request lung cancer screening, 2) patients who are just outside of the screening criteria
(too old, too young, don’t have long enough smoking history, or quit smoking more than 15 years ago)
and ask about screening, and 3) patients who fit all screening criteria (age, current or recent former
smoker, smoking history) but have a significant co‐morbid condition. Importantly, the Task Force
recommends that everyone enrolled in a lung cancer screening program receive interventions to help
them stop smoking.
Jannette Collins, MD, MEd, FCCP, FACR
Editor‐in‐Chief
References
1. About the USPSTF. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Current as of August 2013.
http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/about.htm. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
2. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
(USPSTF): An Introduction. Current as of September 2012.
http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/clinicians‐providers/guidelines‐
recommendations/uspstf/index.html. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
3. New USPSTF Appointments Include No Radiologists. American College of Radiology Advocacy in
Action eNews. February 7, 2014. http://www.acr.org/Advocacy/eNews/20140207‐Issue/New‐
USPSTF‐Appointments‐Include‐No‐Radiologists. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
4. Nominate a New U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Member. May 2012. Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. Current as of May 2012.
.http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/clinicians‐providers/guidelines‐
recommendations/uspstf/nominate.html. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
5. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Grade Definitions. Current as of February 2013.
http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/grades.htm. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
6. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/.
Accessed 2‐21‐14.
7. USPSTF A and B Recommendations by Date. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Current as of
January 2014. http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsabrecs.htm. Accessed
2‐21‐14.
8. Screening for Breast Cancer, Topic Page. July 2010. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsbrca.htm. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
9. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Draft
Recommendation Statement. AHRQ Publication No. 14‐05202‐EF‐2. Current as of January 2014.
http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/draftrec.htm. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
10. Medicare Preventive Services. May 2012.
http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Prevention/PrevntionGenInfo/downloads/MPS_QuickReference
Chart_1.pdf. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
11. Opportunities for Public Comment. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Current as of February
2014. http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/tfcomment.htm. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
12. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for Carotid Artery Stenosis: Draft
Recommendation Statement. AHRQ Publication No. 13‐05178‐EF‐2. Current as of February
2014. http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/draftrec3.htm. Accessed 2‐21‐14.
13. Brott TG, Halperin JL, Abbara S, Bacharach JM, Barr JD, Bush RL, et al. 2011
ASA/ACCF/AHA/AANN/AANS/ACR/ASNR/CNS/SAIP/SCAI/SIR/SNIS/SVM/SVS guideline on the
management of patients with extracranial carotid and vertebral artery disease: executive
summary. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2013; 81(1):e76‐123.
14. Talking with Your Patients about Screening for Lung Cancer. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
January 2014.
http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf13/lungcan/lungcanguide.pdf. Accessed
2‐21‐14.