Published Policies

• Counseling on Hormone Replacement for Peri and Postmenopausal Women, David Katz, MD and Haq Nawaz, MD, Griffin Hospital, Connecticut. Am J Prev Med. October 1999.

• Tobacco Cessation Counseling. Jane Kattapong, MD, University of Washington Preventive Medicine Residency Program. Am J Prev Med. August 1998.

• Screening for Prostate Cancer in American Men. Rebecca L. Ferrini, MD, MPH, University of California/California State University and Steven H. Woolf, MD, FACPM, Medical College of Virginia. Am J Prev Med. July 1998.

• Adult Immunizations. Ann R. Fingar, MD, MPH and Byron J. Francis, MD, FACPM, Illinois Department of Public Health. Am J Prev Med. February 1998.

• Screening for Skin Cancer. Rebecca L. Ferrini, MD, MPH, Monica Perlman, MD, MPH and Linda Hill, MD, FACPM, University of California/California State University General Preventive Medicine Residency Program. Am J Prev Med. January 1998.

• Physician Recommendation of Protection from UV Light Exposure. Rebecca L. Ferrini, MD, MPH, Monica Perlman, MD, MPH and Linda Hill, MD, FACPM, University of California/California State University General Preventive Medicine Residency Program. Am J Prev Med. January 1998.

• Screening Asymptomatic Women for Ovarian Cancer. Rebecca L. Ferrini, MD, MPH, University of California/California State University General Preventive Medicine Residency Program. Am J Prev Med. November/December 1997.

• Childhood Immunizations. Linda Kinsinger, MD, FACPM and Rita Patel, MD, University of North Carolina Preventive Medicine Residency Program. Am J Prev Med. March/April 1997.

• Cervical Cancer Screening. William M. Marine, MD, FACPM and residents at the University of Colorado Health Service Center. Am J Prev Med. September/October 1996.

• Screening Mammography for Asymptomatic Women. Rebecca L. Ferrini, MD, Elizabeth Mannin, MD, Edith Ramsdell, MD and Linda Hill, MD, FACPM. University of California/California State University General Preventive Medicine Residency Program. Am J Prev Med. September/October 1996.

• Counseling on Physical Activity. Kevin Patrick, MD, FACPM and residents at San Diego State University.

• Hepatitis A Vaccination. Linda Kinsinger, MD, MPH and Chesley Richards, MD, MPH, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

• Guideline for Vitamin E Use in Patients with Risk of Cardiovascular Disease. Gary Caplan, MD, MPH, University of Kentucky.

• Physician Recommendation for Weight Loss. Haq Nawaz, MD, MPH and David Katz, MD, MPH, Griffin Hospital, Connecticut.

• Screening for Chlamydia Trachomatis. Katerina Hollblad-Fadiman, MD, MPH, Santa Clara County Public Health Department, San Jose, California.

• Screening for H.pylori in High Risks Groups. Bonnie Henry, MD, Tonya Gosha, MD and Linda Hill, MD, FACPM, San Diego State University.

• Screening for Hemochromatosis. Linda Hill, MD, FACPM and residents at San Diego State University.

• Screening for Hepatitis C. Bonnie Henry, MD and Linda Hill, MD, FACPM, San Diego State University.

• Screening for Lead Poisoning. Linda Kinsinger, MD, MPH and Wendy Gwirtzman Lane, MD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

• Counseling Children and Adolescents for Osteoporosis Prevention. Regina Fleming, MD, MSPH, Sandra Almeida, MD, MPH, and Kevin Patrick, MD, MS at San Diego State University.

• Screening for Testicular Cancer. Rebecca L. Ferrini, MD, MPH, University of California/California State University.

• Varicella Vaccination. Josette Roukhalil, MD, MPH, Griffin Hospital, Connecticut.

• Vitamin A Supplementation. Haq Nawaz, MD, MPH and David Katz, MD, MPH, Griffin Hospital, Connecticut.

• Needle Exchange Programs to Reduce Drug-Associated Morbidity and Mortality. Rebecca Ferrini, MD, MPH, University of California/California State University. Am J Prev Med. February 2000.

• Folic Acid Fortification of Grain Products in the U.S. to Prevent Neural Tube Defects. Jennifer Bentley, MD, MPH, Rebecca Ferrini, MD, MPH, and Linda Hill, MD, MPH., San Diego, California. Am J Prev Med. April 1999.

• Strengthening Motor Vehicle Occupant Protection Laws. Rebecca Ferrini, MD, MPH. University of California/California State University. Am J Prev Med. September/October 1997.

• Breastfeeding. Miriam Labbok, MD, MPH, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.

• Genetic Screening for Cancer. William M. Marine, MD, FACPM and Judy Mouchawar, MD, MPH at the University of Colorado Health Service Center.

• Handgun Control. Christopher R. Armstrong, MD, MPH, Naval Branch Medical Clinic, Jacksonville, North Carolina.

• Newborn Hearing Screening. Thomas Clark, MD and Jay Kravitz, MD, MPH, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon.

• Violence Prevention. Haq Nawaz, MD, MPH and David Katz, MD, MPH, Griffin Hospital, Connecticut.

In response to comments at the November 1999 Practice Guidelines Committee meeting, Barbara Clark, former staff to the committee, developed a checklist for authors to complete when submitting policy statements. The checklist was created to address the concerns of several committee members about the poor quality of some first drafts of policies. The checklist includes essential elements that the draft policies must contain, and the list now is sent to all authors to submit with their draft policies.

The process for preparing policies also was revised to include submission of a "letter of intent" to ACPM staff before development of the first draft of a policy. Previously, authors of both practice and public policies would select a topic and verify its viability with both ACPM staff and Practice Guidelines Chair Neal Kohatsu either via e-mail or orally before completing a first draft. By requiring a written letter of intent, ACPM now will have a statement that details the purpose of the policy and why it is important to preventive medicine. The letter must be reviewed by the residency director or other project mentor, and the mentor must sign a statement expressing his/her willingness to assist with the project and review all drafts before they are submitted to ACPM. The Practice Guidelines Committee believes this will improve the quality of first drafts received by the College. The committee also is considering requiring authors to identify a content expert when submitting a letter of intent (separate from the mentor, if necessary) to work specifically on policy content.

• Status of existing practice and public policies
• Publication of "Needle Exchange" policy
• New policy requests and ideas – PPD Screening in School Children, Domestic Violence Screening or Mandatory Reporting of Domestic Violence, Osteoporosis Screening, Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Dental Procedures.

• Improving topic selection
• Requiring authors to identify content expert
• Draft checklists
• Periodic revision of policies

• Clearly defining appropriate policy topics
• Examining ACPM approach to practice guidelines
• Conference Possibilities – ACPM 2001 annual meeting, partnering for independent conference, etc.

David Atkins, MD, will present information on the task force and discuss upcoming publication of AHRQ’s Guide To Clinical Preventive Services.

Peter Briss, MD, will update the Committee on the work of the task force and its recent practice guidelines initiatives.