Optimizing Tobacco Cessation Resource Awareness Among Patients and Providers.
OBJECTIVE
Despite receiving a cancer diagnosis, many patients continue to use tobacco during treatment, negatively affecting their outcomes. We hypothesized that limited tobacco cessation (TC) discussion among patients and providers was partially the result of providers' lack of awareness of current TC resources available.


METHODS
We surveyed the head and neck oncology providers (HNOPs) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to evaluate their awareness of existing TC resources within the community and performed a 6-month medical record review of active tobacco users (ATUs) to evaluate the frequency of documented TC discussions in clinic. We educated the HNOPs about available TC resources, developed a TC resource teaching sheet, placed a provider alert page in examination rooms as a reminder of TC discussions, and built a TC discussion template to ease documentation. Four weeks postintervention, we resurveyed providers and again performed medical record reviews of ATUs.


RESULTS
Preintervention, 13% of HNOPs were aware of TC resources available, and TC discussion documentation was 28%. Postintervention, 100% of HNOPs became aware of the TC resources available, and documentations increased to 56% at 5 months. Identification of ATUs increased from six to 13 per month to 17 to 33 per month post intervention. Eighty-eight percent of HNOPs felt the intervention prompted TC discussions in clinic with their ATUs.


CONCLUSIONS
The limited number of TC discussions among patients and providers was at least partially the result of unawareness of TC resources available within the community. Educating HNOPs and alerting them to ATUs at their clinic visits successfully prompted TC discussions in clinic.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
Laura
L
Ma
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
Caitlin
C
Donohue
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
Tina
T
DeNofrio
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
Lillian
L
Vitale Pedulla
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
Robert I
RI
Haddad
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA guilherme_rabinowits@dfci.harvard.edu.
Guilherme
G
Rabinowits
D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education; D006295:Health Resources; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D058996:Quality Improvement; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires