The American College of Radiology (ACR) is lauding legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress that proposes greater transparency in the work of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).
Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bobby Rush (D-IL) have introduced the USPSTF Transparency and Accountability Act of 2015 (HR 1151), which seeks to improve the task force's recommendation process by requiring the following, according to ACR:
- Balanced representation of practicing primary and specialty care providers, patients, and others with appropriate scientific expertise, including those in the fields of health services research, health economics, and clinical care
- Public comment on proposed research plans with an account of comments received and the task force's response to such comments
- Regularly updated guidelines for proper methodological standards
- 60-day public comment period for all recommendations on specific preventive services
- Codification of the grading definitions of the task force's grading scale so they cannot be changed without appropriate review
- Elimination of the broad authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to exempt "nongraded" or insufficiently graded services from Medicare coverage
- Task force members to disclose any conflicts of interest they may have with regard to a particular service or product under review by USPSTF
- Consultation with provider groups, practicing specialists who treat the specific disease under consideration, and relevant patient and disease advocacy groups before the task force votes on a draft recommendation
"USPSTF recommendations were initially intended to provide supplementary guidance to primary care physicians, but they are now used to influence national screening program guidelines, federal and private-sector coverage policies, and direct-to-consumer screening recommendations," ACR said in a statement. "With such substantive policy issues at stake, the public trust demands that the USPSTF recommendation-development process be entirely transparent and consistent with other federal agencies that create policy and promulgate regulations."
