Increases in Smoking Cessation Interventions After a Feedback and Improvement Initiative Using Electronic Health Records

Dear Colleagues:

A tobacco-related article written in partnership with New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health is published in the latest MMWR. Read the full article here.

Increases in Smoking Cessation Interventions After a Feedback and Improvement Initiative Using Electronic Health Records — 19 Community Health Centers, New York City, October 2010–March 2012

Electronic health records have the potential to make it easier for health care providers to screen for and document tobacco use and to intervene with patients who use tobacco products. In addition, patient lists generated by an electronic health record system can offer timely feedback to providers and can also be used to identify issues where improvement is needed. Most smokers want to quit and make at least one medical visit each year. Documenting smoking status and intervening with smokers in health care settings increases quit rates, but many providers and practices do not routinely take these actions. An electronic health record-based pay-for-improvement initiative conducted in 19 Community Health Centers in New York City during October 2010-March 2012 sought to increase smoking status documentation and cessation interventions. At the end of the initiative, the mean proportion of patients who were documented as smokers had increased from 24% to 27% while the mean proportion of documented smokers who received a cessation intervention increased from 23% to 54%.