Introduction

As the American health care system, pressured by shifting population demographics, rising rates of chronic disease, uneven care quality, and rising costs, sharpens its focus on quality, affordability, and overall value, prevention takes center stage as a meaningful part of the solution. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Americans use clinical preventive services at half the recommended rate, leading to tens of millions of individuals missing out on basic preventive care.[i] Past research from the Institute of Medicine has also estimated that in one year, the United States spent $55 billion due to missed preventive opportunities. [ii]

This America’s Health Rankings® Spotlight: Prevention, released in partnership with the American College of Preventive Medicine, takes an in-depth look at the status of clinical disease prevention across the country and the inequities within subpopulations. The objective of this spotlight is to drive awareness and understanding about the roles of key clinical preventive services and interventions—Access to Health Care, Immunizations, and Chronic Disease Prevention—in improving the health of individuals and our communities.

To do this, three categories of preventive services and interventions were analyzed, with each category of the model composed of three to four measures. For example, the measures “health care coverage,” “dedicated health care provider,” and “dental visit, annual” collectively represent a person’s Access to Health Care for the purposes of this model. While not an exhaustive list of prevention measures, each measure represents a unique perspective on how individuals interact with the health care system to prevent, diagnose, and manage infectious and chronic diseases.