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Priority Care

Why Establish Prevention Priorities?

Somebody else, it seems, is always trying to tell you what's good for your body.
How do you know what's really important?

It's not just patients who are confused, either.
Doctors and nurses need to know where to put their focus.
Health Plans needs to know where to put its members' money.

That's why the one cooperative has identified 11 prevention priorities, targeting problems--including smoking, cancer, and heart disease--that lead to about 80 percent of the diseases and deaths in the U.S.

"The majority of these priorities are areas in which people
can exert control in their own lives to do something.''

The #1 priority is to reduce tobacco use.

Rounding out the "Big 11" prevention priorities are: excess alcohol use; breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers; coronary artery disease; depression; diabetes; high-fat diets; HIV/AIDS; immunization and infectious disease; inactivity; and injuries.

Dr. Bruce Davis, associate medical director, says that by offering this short list of specific medical targets, Group Health can focus on "a clear, comprehensive definition of what we want to achieve in prevention.''

There's recent proof that prevention plans can help patients improve their lives.

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