Dentistry United to Extinguish Tobacco

Quarterly, trained clinic staff will use a standardized chart audit tool to evaluate documentation of cessation assistance. The feedback report will show individual and clinic performance summaries of two targeted provider behaviors based on documentation in the chart: 1) percentage of smokers advised to quit, and 2) percentage of smokers who received quitting assistance. Quitting assistance will be fulfilled by documentation of any of the following provider behaviors: a) Faxing a referral to the New York State (NYS) Quitline, b) Chart documentation of providing cessation counseling; and/or c) discussing and or prescribing cessation medications. Reports will be given to the Dental Director, who will be instructed to distribute them to dental providers no later than 30 days following the end of the quarter.

We will review charts of all smokers to evaluate documentation of cessation assistance (i.e., prescription given for cessation medication, the provision of brief cessation counseling and/or a fax referral to the NYS Quitline or other local cessation support program). Sites will receive $20 for each patient with chart documentation of receiving tobacco cessation assistance. The P4P reimbursement will be offered quarterly with an annual cap of $5000 to each site as employees are salaried.

CBPs that will be implemented is consistent with the PHS recommended guidelines and is as follows: The dental care team will assess smoking status, deliver advice to quit, assess readiness to quit, provide patient education materials, a prescription for cessation pharmacotherapy and referral to the NYS Quitline, and document findings and treatment plan on the chart system. In New York State, the Quitline provides free medication for uninsured. As brief provider interventions have been shown to be effective, the recommended tobacco treatment protocol will require approximately 5-10 minutes.