Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008
Update, a Public Health Service-sponsored Clinical Practice Guideline (U.S.
Public Health Service)
indicates that there is increasing evidence that the success of any tobacco
dependence treatment strategy cannot be divorced from the health care system in
which it is embedded.
In contrast to strategies that target only the clinician or the tobacco user, systems strategies are intended to ensure that tobacco use is systematically assessed and treated at every clinical encounter. Importantly, these strategies are designed to work with clinician-focused and patient-focused interventions, ultimately resulting in informed clinicians and patients interacting in a seamless way that improves the treatment of tobacco dependence.
Such strategies have the potential to substantially improve population quit rates. It has been estimated that, over time, widespread implementation of such strategies could produce a 2 percent to 3.5 percent reduction in smoking prevalence rates. Evidence indicates that adequate clinician training or automated smoker identification systems improves the rates of clinical interventions. Finally, health care delivery organizations have the potential to craft and implement supportive systems, policies, and environmental prompts that can facilitate the delivery of tobacco dependence treatment for millions of Americans.
One such integrated program, just opened in the New Orleans area, is the Ochsner Health System Smoking Cessation Clinic at their Main Campus on Jefferson Highway. The OHS Smoking Cessation Clinic marries the patient-smokers' regular clinic visit to their Main Campus Clinic for non-smoking related services with a recommendation for all patient-smokers to schedule a free evaluation visit to the OHS Smoking Cessation Clinic. In the Smoking Cessation Clinic the patients will received a multi-disciplinary evaluation which will be used to build a patient-specific treatment plan to move the motivated patient-smoker toward a cigarette-free life.
While the OHS Smoking Cessation Clinic is a new development in treating tobacco dependence, evidence from across America suggests that its integrated program characteristics will have better results compared to what we see as the norm in Louisiana today, patients either quitting "cold turkey" or with minimal assistance from either medical professionals, group counseling, or medications.
Once you have your card in-hand from the Smoking Cessation Trust, you can contact the Ochsner Smoking Cessation Clinic to make your first consultation appointment at (504) 842-7490. As a member of the Smoking Cessation Trust, you will qualify for free cessation medications, individual/group counseling, telephone quitline support, a Quit Coach, and more.
Such strategies have the potential to substantially improve population quit rates. It has been estimated that, over time, widespread implementation of such strategies could produce a 2 percent to 3.5 percent reduction in smoking prevalence rates. Evidence indicates that adequate clinician training or automated smoker identification systems improves the rates of clinical interventions. Finally, health care delivery organizations have the potential to craft and implement supportive systems, policies, and environmental prompts that can facilitate the delivery of tobacco dependence treatment for millions of Americans.
One such integrated program, just opened in the New Orleans area, is the Ochsner Health System Smoking Cessation Clinic at their Main Campus on Jefferson Highway. The OHS Smoking Cessation Clinic marries the patient-smokers' regular clinic visit to their Main Campus Clinic for non-smoking related services with a recommendation for all patient-smokers to schedule a free evaluation visit to the OHS Smoking Cessation Clinic. In the Smoking Cessation Clinic the patients will received a multi-disciplinary evaluation which will be used to build a patient-specific treatment plan to move the motivated patient-smoker toward a cigarette-free life.
While the OHS Smoking Cessation Clinic is a new development in treating tobacco dependence, evidence from across America suggests that its integrated program characteristics will have better results compared to what we see as the norm in Louisiana today, patients either quitting "cold turkey" or with minimal assistance from either medical professionals, group counseling, or medications.
Once you have your card in-hand from the Smoking Cessation Trust, you can contact the Ochsner Smoking Cessation Clinic to make your first consultation appointment at (504) 842-7490. As a member of the Smoking Cessation Trust, you will qualify for free cessation medications, individual/group counseling, telephone quitline support, a Quit Coach, and more.
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