Tobacco Treatment Outreach to Reduce Disparities for Primary Care Populations
Tobacco Treatment Outreach to Reduce Disparities for Primary Care Populations
The objectives of this project are to develop and evaluate a multi-level approach to tobacco
 treatment for low-SES and minority patients. The components of this intervention would
 include Integrated Voice Response(IVR)-facilitated systematic outreach, linkage to a tobacco
 treatment specialist, free Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) directed at the patient, and
 integration of this program with both an individual's primary care physician through an
 electronic health record (EHR), as well as referral to community resources to address the
 socio-contextual barriers to tobacco cessation. To achieve these objectives, this
 intervention will test an innovative model of systematic outreach to low-SES and minority
 smokers using systematic phone outreach (including cell phones which are particularly
 prevalent among minority and low-SES groups), coordinated with the PCP, using both a
 cost-effective technology and a dedicated tobacco treatment specialist to increase smoking
 cessation in these populations. The proposed intervention will have multiple levels of
 influence (patient, PCP) and provide linkages to community resources. If successful, this
 model could be generalized to other health systems with an EHR, which are increasingly being
 promoted to improve the safety and quality of health care.

 Hypothesis 1 (Reach and Effectiveness): An EHR-linked, IVR-mediated personalized treatment
 program for low-SES and minority smokers can reach these patients to increase quit rates and
 use of tobacco treatment effectively.

 Hypothesis 2 (Adoption and Implementation): An EHR-linked, IVR-mediated personalized
 treatment program for low-SES and minority smokers can be adopted across a variety of
 practice settings and be consistently implemented across diverse patient populations.
Because 70% of smokers have seen a PCP within the past year, primary care represents a
 valuable platform for reducing disparities in tobacco use that could be made more effective.
 The current national focus on expanding the use of EHRs also makes the proposed model to
 identify smokers with the goal of reducing disparities in tobacco use particularly timely.
 The adoption of EHRs in practices serving minorities is similar to that in all practices,
 suggesting that there is not a "digital divide" for PCP practices. In addition, the proposed
 intervention is novel because it addresses tobacco use at multiple levels (i.e., individual,
 health care setting, community), and is designed to provide smokers with tools to address
 socio-contextual contributors to disparities in tobacco use. Finally, the intervention will
 be informed by a broad approach using community resources for tobacco cessation. Conceptual
 models and empiric data suggest that this type of broad approach is needed to reach low-SES
 and minority smokers to reduce disparities in tobacco use. Telephone outreach may be
 particularly effective for minority and low-SES populations because cell phone penetration is
 higher in these populations. While disparities in tobacco use are rooted in social and
 economic problems that extend beyond the domain of health care and traditional treatment
 models, the health care system still represents a critical opportunity to initiate
 intervention.

 Although smoking has declined over the past decades, substantial socioeconomic disparities in
 smoking prevalence, risk of addiction, and tobacco-related disease remain in the US,
 particularly among different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Despite relatively
 similar rates of tobacco use, for example, African Americans (a term used interchangeably
 with "blacks" throughout this proposal) suffer from a higher burden of tobacco-related
 disease, particularly lung cancer, than whites. Importantly, low socioeconomic status (SES)
 and minority smokers also have a relatively more difficult time quitting for several reasons,
 including more limited access to treatment, misinformation about the risks and benefits of
 treatment, more environmental exposure, lack of social support, and other life stressors.

 Primary care physicians (PCPs) are an important source of tobacco treatment, as the majority
 of smokers visit a PCP each year. While the US Public Health Service strongly recommends that
 clinicians identify and treat every tobacco user, such an approach is largely dependent on
 busy clinicians to provide counseling and treatment during a brief visit. Minority and
 low-SES smokers are more likely than whites to report that they did not receive counseling or
 treatment during a visit. For these reasons it is important to offer systematic opportunities
 for tobacco treatment beyond the provider's office, in addition to improving "best practices"
 for cessation treatment. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a phone technology that allows a
 computer to detect voice responses during a normal phone call (including calls from mobile
 phones). This technology offers a low-cost, efficient way to reach out proactively to large
 populations, independent of a visit. IVR scripts can be translated into other languages,
 facilitating systematic outreach to diverse populations. This technology can provide direct
 linkage to a tobacco treatment specialist, who can provide personalized advice for cessation,
 mood management, and stress reduction, and provide a course of free nicotine replacement
 treatment (NRT), as well as linkage to relevant community resources. Smokers who use NRT as
 part of their cessation plan are more likely to succeed than those who do not, and free NRT
 is a particularly important intervention for low-SES and minority smokers.

 Specific Aim 1: To develop an EHR-linked, IVR-mediated personalized tobacco treatment program
 for low-SES and minority smokers. To develop this program, we will first conduct formative
 qualitative research to identify the particular barriers to smoking cessation faced by these
 populations and subsequently, to create a Community Resource Guide to address socio-cultural
 barriers to cessation.

 Specific Aim 2: To measure the effectiveness of this personalized treatment program by
 conducting a randomized controlled trial of low-SES and minority smokers in 12 clinics from
 the Partners Primary Care Practice Based Research Network (PPC-PBRN). Patients in the
 intervention group will be offered three contacts with a tobacco treatment specialist over a
 12 week period, a free 6-week supply of nicotine patches, and linkage to local resources
 using the Community Resource Guide. Patients in the control group will receive visit-based
 "best practices" care facilitated by EHR decision support (received by both the intervention
 and the control group). The primary outcome of this trial will be the 7-day abstinence rate
 at 6 months.

 Specific Aim 3: To evaluate facilitators and barriers to the reach, adoption, and
 implementation of this personalized tobacco treatment program.

 This project fits well with other projects in the Lung Cancer Disparities Center (LCDC),
 complementing the other projects that seek to explain disparities in lung cancer at the
 molecular, neighborhood, and societal levels. Over 80% of those diagnosed with lung cancer
 are current or ex-smokers, supporting the critical importance of smoking cessation to
 reducing disparities in lung cancer.1 Our project adds another layer by focusing on the
 individual/ clinical interface to reduce disparities in tobacco use.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Must be 18 years of age or older.

 -  Must be a current smoker.

 -  Must receive primary care at one of the participating clinics.

 -  Must have had a PCP visit within the last month at a participating clinic.

 -  Must have a working phone number listed in Partner's database.

 -  Must report race /ethnicity as African American or Hispanic or live in a low-SES block
 group (a census block group with a median income of < $65,000).

 -  Must speak English or Spanish.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Hearing impaired patients who cannot use the telephone.