Great American Smoke Out 2021: Free resources to help medical providers

NEW YORK, NY – In observance of the Great American Smokeout on November 21st, the Center of Excellence for Health Systems Improvement (COE for HSI) wants to acknowledge the crucial role that healthcare providers play in helping their patients quit smoking.

A provider’s advice and assistance more than doubles the odds that a patient will successfully quit smoking1. But it can be hard for providers to know where to start. That is why the COE for HSI offers free technical assistance to help them identify practical and easily applied strategies to strengthen their systems to improve identification of smokers and provide or link them to treatment. 

Launched in July 2014 by CAI, the COE for HSI provides support and technical assistance to 10 regional health systems improvement grantee sites across New York State. These grantees work diligently in the field to undertake health systems improvement activities to ensure that every tobacco user is screened, offered, and receives timely tobacco dependence treatment, if desired. The project prioritizes health systems and organizations that serve populations for which smoking prevalence rates are higher, including patients with low socioeconomic status (SES), and behavioral health and substance-use diagnoses.

The COE for HSI supports health systems improvement grantees by developing resources and tools to integrate tobacco cessation into primary care, behavioral health, and substance use treatment settings. These resources include webinars, training resources, and tobacco treatment financing resources that support the universal provision of evidence-based tobacco dependence treatment services.

For more information on CAI’s products and services, please contact David Davis, Deputy Director for the Center of Excellence for Health Systems Improvement at ddavis@dev.caiglobal.org or (212) 594-7741 X 263

For more information about the COE for HSI, visit tobaccofreeny.org.

Some of the COE for HSI Resources include:

COE for HSI offers on-demand webinars 

These webinars were created for public health workers and provider organizations and show how to undertake health systems improvement activities to ensure that every tobacco user is screened, offered, and receives timely tobacco dependence treatment. Continuing Education Credits offered on select webinars. Access these webinars by visiting our resource center.

Sources:
1. Fiore M, Froelicher, E, Baily, W, Jaen, C, Baker, T, . Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service. May 2008.