This supplement is the second of a series of periodic reports from a CDC initiative to monitor and report on the use of a set of selected clinical preventive services in the U.S. population in the context of recent national initiatives to improve access to and use of such services. Increasing the use of these services can result in substantial reductions in the burden of illness, death, and disability and lower treatment costs. This supplement focuses on services to improve the health of U.S. infants, children, and adolescents. The majority of clinical preventive services for infants, children, and adolescents are provided by the health-care sector. Public health agencies play important roles in increasing the use of these services by identifying and implementing policies that are effective in increasing use of the services and by collaborating with stakeholders to conduct programs to improve use. Recent health-reform initiatives, including efforts to increase the accessibility and affordability of preventive services, fund community prevention programs, and improve the use of health information technologies, offer opportunities to improve use of preventive services. This supplement, which follows a previous report on adult services, provides baseline information on the use of a set of selected clinical preventive services to improve the health of infants, children, and adolescents before implementation of these recent initiatives and discusses opportunities to increase the use of such services. This information can help public health practitioners, in collaboration with other stakeholders that have key roles in improving infant, child, and adolescent health (e.g., parents or guardians and their employers, health plans, health professionals, schools, child care facilities, community groups, and voluntary associations), understand the potential benefits of the recommended services, address the problem of underuse, and identify opportunities to apply effective strategies to improve use and foster accountability among stakeholders.

The findings described in this supplement can help improve collaboration among public health and other stakeholders who influence infant, child, and adolescent health (e.g., parents or guardians and their employers, health plans, health professionals, schools, child care facilities, community groups, and voluntary associations) to increase the use of selected clinical preventive services among U.S. infants, children, and adolescents. Increased use can substantially reduce illness and long-term disability and improve health and quality of life. This supplement underscores that the use of the clinical preventive services among U.S. infants, children, and adolescents is not optimal and is variable, ranging from <10% to approximately 85%, depending on the particular service. Use was particularly low for developmental screening and receipt of dental preventive services in young children, and for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and tobacco cessation assistance, including counseling, in adolescents; however, opportunities exist to improve use of all of these services. Children and adolescents with no insurance and those with no usual source of health care (if available for analysis) were the groups least likely to have used the services. Use among the uninsured ranged from 1–39 percentage points below the general population averages, suggesting that improvements in insurance coverage that will result from the implementation of health-care reform are likely to increase use of these clinical preventive services. In 2012, a total of 4.9 million children (6.6% of children) were uninsured at the time of interview, and approximately 15% of eligible children in the United States are not enrolled in Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs. In addition, although opportunities exist for greater insurance coverage and for use of recommended clinical preventive services under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (P.L. 111–148), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111–152, together referred to as the Affordable Care Act [ACA]), a survey among the uninsured found a low level of awareness of the Health Insurance Marketplace (or Health Insurance Exchange) that can be used by families to acquire insurance or Medicaid coverage. The survey highlights the importance of focused efforts by governmental health agencies and other stakeholders to enroll uninsured children and adolescents in health plans. Also, although use of clinical preventive services in insured populations was greater than among the uninsured, use among the insured was generally <85%, and often much less. Therefore, having health insurance coverage alone might not be sufficient to optimize use of clinical preventive services, and additional measures to improve use probably will be necessary.