June 18, 2024
Washington, D.C. – NCQA and a coalition of preeminent public and private health organizations led by AHIP are launching Promoting Health Through Prevention (PHtP) a coordinated campaign to promote the availability of no-cost preventive services. Proactive screenings for cancer, behavioral health conditions, and heart disease, among other conditions, can help keep Americans of all ages healthy and identify potential problems early.
“Every American should know what preventive services and screenings are recommended and available to them with no cost sharing under their health insurance coverage,” said Mike Tuffin, President and CEO of AHIP. “We welcome this opportunity to partner with leading stakeholders to help educate consumers about their preventive care benefits.”
Uptake of preventive services varies. For example, approximately 80% of adults are up-to-date with screenings for heart disease, 60-70% are current with cancer screenings, and only 30-40% are being screened or referred for substance use and mental health conditions.
“Our nation’s foremost health policy priority must be prevention,” said Dr. Anand Parekh, chief medical advisor of the Bipartisan Policy Center, who helped catalyze the formation of the coalition. “One significant way to enhance Americans’ health is to increase the uptake of high-value evidence-based clinical preventive services, which can help detect diseases early.”
The coalition will use multiple communications channels and draw attention to several tools and services to educate Americans about the importance of preventive services, including the use of MyHealthfinder, developed by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“Rates of access to preventive health services and primary care visits, which were already well below ideal levels prior to the pandemic, have yet to rebound fully. This is especially worrisome among certain racial and ethnic communities whose rates were concerningly low,” explained RDML Paul Reed, MD, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Director, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “To address such alarming trends – with the attendant risk for delayed or missed diagnoses – we need more partnerships like this one to help improve health literacy and preventive services access.”
Participating organizations include: the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cigna Healthcare, Elevance Health, Florida Blue, Highmark Health, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, Mental Health America, the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), Quartz Health Solutions, and the VBID Center at the University of Michigan.
“We at NCQA have long championed preventive care as a cornerstone of population health and quality health care. Supporting the Promoting Health Through Prevention (PHtP) campaign is a natural continuation of NCQA’s history of turning preventive care recommendations into effective, achievable industry standards. This collaboration aligns with NCQA’s ongoing focus on improving health and health care for all Americans. We are thrilled to join AHIP and health care organizations in this collaboration,” said Peggy O’Kane, President of NCQA.
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About NCQA
NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA Accredits and Certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also Recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA’s website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make informed health care choices. NCQA can also be found at Twitter @ncqa and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ncqa.
Media Contact
Theresa Masnik
SHIFT Communications
NCQA@shiftcomm.com