New FDA regulations restrict tobacco sales, marketing to kids
3/29/10 - The FDA has issued broad new regulations restricting the sale and marketing of tobacco products to children and adolescents.
HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius said during a March 18 news conference that the rules -- which were published March 19 in the Federal Register and take effect June 22 -- will make it more difficult for manufacturers to advertise tobacco products and more difficult for children and adolescents to buy them.
Read more here.
Interventions to Help Patients Reduce or Eliminate the Use of Smokeless Tobacco
12/11/09 - A Cochrane for Clinicians: Putting Evidence into Practice article on helping your patients with smokeless tobacco use has been published in the December 1 issue of American Family Physician.
IAFP/AAFP members may access it here: http://www.aafp.org/afp/2009/1201/p1226.html?printable=afp
Electronic Health Records Assist Tobacco Cessation
10/14/09 - Multiple studies have shown that integrating tobacco control and smoking cessation in electronic health records result in more effective interventions and higher quit rates.
“Physicians need a standard way to record and to access data on tobacco exposure,” said Sarah Mullins, MD, a private practice physician in Wilmington, Del., and member of the Tobacco Cessation Advisory Committee of the AAFP.
“Physicians also need to customize systems to track primary and second-hand exposure over time and to have easy access to that information at every patient visit. It has been found that one of the most effective ways to reduce second-hand exposure is to document and track it.”
Dr. Mullins’ own practice selected, customized, and implemented their EHR system this year. The challenge, she said, is that each EHR system records, retrieves, and presents tobacco use information in a different way. Some systems allow the physician to fully customize tobacco use data. Others allow collection of basic data such as smoker/nonsmoker but do not have an easy way to record vital details such as smoking history or chronic exposure to second-hand smoke at home. A few EHRs do not allow for the collection of tobacco use data at all.
“There is some good EHR decision support out there,” she said. “But you can’t push your vendor for those features until you know what the possibilities are. That’s where our presentation can make a difference in your practice.”
The payoff from more effective tobacco control interventions in patient health status is obvious. What family physicians may not realize, Dr. Mullins said, is that using an EHR to guide and document their tobacco interventions can have a direct financial impact.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — the federal economic stimulus package passed earlier this year — includes funding for physicians who can show that they are putting EHRs to “meaningful use.” While the final definition has not yet been issued, it will mean physicians will be able to show that they use EHRs to produce positive change.
“It’s not just having an EHR, it’s using your EHR in ways that demonstrate improved patient outcomes,” Dr. Mitchell said. “Tobacco exposure is one of those criteria that need to be carefully monitored and recorded to demonstrate the positive change you are bringing to your patients.”
Dr. Mullins drew on her years of experience with smoking cessation and tobacco control programs to help create a new CME course, Smokin EHRs: Integrating Tobacco Cessation into Electronic Health Records. The course was debuted with Jason Mitchell, MD, assistant director of the AAFP Center for Health Information Technology during the 2009 Scientific Assembly.
Reprinted with permission from the Oct. 14, 2009, issue of AAFP UpClose.
Is Secondhand Smoke Impacting Your Patients' Health? Watch A Free Webinar Now!
In January at the IAFP's 2009 Family Medicine Update in Indianapolis, Dr. Steven Jay, Professor of Medicine and Public Health at IU School of Medicine, presented a lecture on the impact of secondhand smoke. You can listen to it now by clicking here.
Participants will learn how to:
• Describe the health consequences associated with exposure to secondhand smoke
• Recognize when secondhand smoke is a factor contributing to a patient's condition
• Discuss with patients how exposure to secondhand smoke impacts their health
• Refer patients to effective smoking cessation resources, including the Indiana Tobacco Quitline
Group Visits For Tobacco Cessation: Watch A Free Webinar Now!
Click here to watch a free webinar to find out how to improve clinical outcomes in your office, and get paid more! Dr. Steven Masley of St. Petersburg, FL, is a nationally noted expert on the group visit concept, and presented this talk at our 2009 Annual Meeting in French Lick, IN.
Participants will learn:
* To conduct group visits that help patients combat tobacco addiction and other chronic diseases.
* The advantages of offering group visit sessions.
* How to schedule and organize group visits.
* Proper documentation and coding for group visits.
Click here to access a step-by-step guide to Tobacco Cessation Group Visits from the AAFP.
Family Physicians Launch New Campaign: Indiana Continues Aggressive Push To Help Smokers Quit
6/3/09 - A new and unusual ad campaign is being unveiled this week featuring physicians urging other health care providers to make treatment a priority for their patients who smoke. The campaign is a proactive peer-to-peer education program featuring real doctors reminding their peers how important it is for them to discuss smoking and the benefits of quitting with their patients.
The "As Physicians" campaign will begin on June 3, 2009 and runs through September 2009. Ads will be featured throughout the state in medical magazines such as Frontline Physician, local newspapers, and on medical web sites.
"Two-thirds of smokers in Indiana have visited a health care provider in the past year. This presents a tremendous opportunity for doctors to intervene and give patients the help they need to quit successfully," said Dr. Teresa Lovins, IAFP President.
The campaign was created by Indiana Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP) and funded through a grant from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in collaboration with the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation State Agency and the Indiana State Department of Health.
While most anti-smoking efforts target smokers, this campaign speaks directly to doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, dentists, dental hygienists, and other health care professionals. The campaign goal is to increase the number of quit attempts among smokers who want to quit by challenging clinicians across the state to take time at every office visit to talk to their patients about the benefits of quitting tobacco use.
Read the whole press release here. (PDF file, 66 KB)
View individual ads below:
Richard Feldman, MD - Beech Grove (PDf file, 1.83 MB)
Maria Fletcher, MD - Indianapolis (PDf file, 1.81 MB)
Scott Frankenfield, MD - Portland (PDf file, 2.70 MB)
Tom Kintanar, MD - Fort Wayne (PDf file, 2.36 MB)
Teresa Lovins, MD - Columbus (PDf file, 2.51 MB)
Jason Marker, MD - Wyatt (PDf file, 2.17 MB)
Judith Monroe, MD - Indianapolis (PDf file, 3.60 MB)
Brenda O'Hara, MD - Fort Wayne (PDf file, 2.03 MB)
Risheet Patel, MD - Fishers (PDf file, 2.10 MB)
Windel Stracener, MD - Richmond (PDf file, 1.65 MB)
Daniel Walters, MD - Seymour (PDf file, 1.76 MB)
There’s Never Been a Better Time to Quit!
Free Help to Quit Tobacco
Recent price increases in tobacco products are serving as a powerful reason for more and more smokers to try to quit.
If your patients are ready to improve their health and save money by quitting tobacco, refer them to the Indiana Tobacco Quitline - free, professional help and support.
When your patients call the Quitline, they’ll talk with a trained Quit Coach (90+ hours of specialized training), who understands what they’re going through and can work with them to develop an individualized quit plan that meets their specific needs.
For more information, visit www.indianatobaccoquitline.net. Or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. ET, seven days a week, and find out for yourself how it works.
Don’t forget the fax! You can enroll your patients in the Indiana Tobacco Quitline services before they even leave your office. Simply complete the fax referral form (find it online here), have your patient sign it, and fax it in. The Indiana Tobacco Quitline will call your patient, so they don’t have to take the first step!
