"PPIP," says the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announcing a new nationwide campaign to "increase the healthy life spans of Americans by making disease prevention a standard part of medical practice."
The initials stand for Put Prevention Into Practice, and the department's chief medical officer, Philip R. Lee, MD, assistant secretary for health, describes the effort as "nothing less than reforming medical care and extending healthy life by shifting primary care practices toward prevention."
The HHS is issuing a 400-page textbook entitled Clinician's Handbook of Preventive Services, intended for primary care providers including nurse practitioners, physicians' assistants, pediatricians, internists, and family physicians. The book is in two parts, one dealing with children and adolescents and the other with adults.
Each part has three sections: screening, immunizations and prophylaxis, and counseling. An introductory overview contains a handy preventive care timeline chart that indicates how frequently tests or examinations should