Health Prevention Research Paper

Health Prevention Initiatives Managed care focuses heavily on health prevention initiatives as a critical component to decrease overall health care costs, as preventing disease has a direct cause and effect relationship with healthier populations, which result in lower overall health care costs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) defines preventative care as health care that includes “immunizations, screenings for common chronic and infectious diseases and cancers, clinical and behavioral interventions to manage chronic disease and reduce associated risks, and counseling to support healthy living and self-management of chronic disease” (Prevention). Currently CMS is featuring several health preventive initiatives designed at facing specific challenges in preventive care. The first of these is the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) effort. This initiative is targeted at children within the Medicaid system and provides benefits including health screenings, vision and dental services, hearing evaluations and other services “necessary to correct or improve health conditions” (Prevention). Other screening programs targeted at children include the Birth to 5: …show more content…
In a 2002 cross sectional survey, it was found that in populations scoring low on s short test of functional health literacy also achieved lower self-reported use of preventive services (Scott, Gazmararian, Williams, & Baker, 2002). Specifically, populations scoring low on health literacy reported that 29% of respondents had never had a flu shot, versus 19% in groups scoring higher levels of health literacy (Scott, Gazmararian, Williams, & Baker, 2002). These findings were echoed in rates of mammogram participation 24% versus 17% (Scott, Gazmararian, Williams, & Baker,