- Review Topic Nominations
- Anyone can nominate a new topic for review at any time.
- USPSTF reviews nominated topics for relevance to and impact on prevention, primary care and public health.
- USPSTF selects and prioritizes topics for review.
- Develop Draft Research Plan
- Once a topic is prioritized for review, USPSTF and an Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) develop a research plan and seek expert input.
- USPSTF posts the draft research plan to website for public comment.
- Review Public Comments & Finalize Research Plan
- USPSTF and EPC review all comments carefully and revise the research plan.
- USPSTF posts the final research plan to website.
- Review Evidence & Develop Draft Recommendation
- EPC analyzes peer-reviewed evidence; develops a draft evidence review.
- USPSTF assess EPC-gathered evidence, weighing effectiveness and benefits/harms and develops a draft recommendation statement.
- USPSTF posts the draft recommendation statement and EPC evidence review to its website for public comment.
- Review Public Comments & Finalize Recommendation
- USPSTF and EPC consider all comments on the draft evidence review, then EPC finalizes.
- USPSTF considers all comments on the draft recommendation statement, then finalizes.
- USPSTF posts the final recommendation statement and evidence summary to website and publishes in a peer-reviewed journal.
Current as of May 2021