title: Results from an outreach program for health systems change in tobacco cessation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Washington state has experienced a dramatic reduction in adult smoking prevalence (22.4% in 1999 to 14.8% in 2010) because of a comprehensive tobacco control effort that includes a proactive health professional education and an outreach program. The outreach program uses academic detailing and online tools to increase routine identification and treatment of tobacco users. This article summarizes outcomes from the first 2 years of the program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Outcome measures include the frequency of contact with providers, changes in the percentage of callers reporting that they had heard about the Quit Line from a health professional, and changes in provider Quit Line fax referrals. Data are compared between Initial, Expanded, and Never Outreach Counties.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 2008 to 2010, a total of 629 unique health care organizations and 3,989 unique health professionals received services. Between 2007 and 2010, the ratio of health professional "How Heard Abouts" to total Quit Line registrations increased by 142.6% and 95.4% in Initial and Expanded Outreach Counties, whereas Never Outreach Counties showed an 11.2% increase. Fax referrals to the Quit Line increased by 132% and 232% in Initial and Expanded Outreach Counties whereas they declined by 39% in Never Outreach Counties.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggests that health professionals can be an important and reliable source of referrals to a treatment resource such as a tobacco quitline. A field-based outreach program using academic detailing principles can be used to increase treatment referrals and holds application for other chronic disease areas and quality improvement programs.
authors.affiliation: Alere Wellbeing, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Gillian L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Schauer
authors.forename: Juliet R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zbikowski
mesh_terms: D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013689:Telephone; D020340:Tobacco Use Cessation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D014861:Washington