In 1998, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) launched a new Initiative, Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care (ATMC), with the formation of a National Program Office (NPO), a National Technical Assistance Office (NTAO), and a call for proposals from Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and their academic partners. Projects funded under ATMC are intended to investigate systems changes related to implementation of smoking cessation guidelines for health care settings, and are aimed at leveraging the Clinical Practice Guideline on "Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence" developed by USDHHS and AHRQ. In the first round of funding there were 11 planning and four evaluation grants. RWJF also funded researchers at Brandeis University to conduct a formative evaluation of the Initiative's goals and experiences, and to conduct an evaluability assessment. Using smoking cessation as an example, Brandeis researchers examined two fundamental questions related to behavioral health and health care during the study, that is, what forces can influence health care systems to focus on health promotion and the underlying causes of illness; and how and why can organized systems realize their potential to implement changes in the way health issues are recognized and addressed? Focussing on the impact of ATMC on enhancing adoption of AHRQ guidelines, we developed a program theory and used it to identify critical success factors that would be predictive of success. We assessed patient, provider, and systems level factors, and addressed the issue of what constituted a convincing business case for implementation of behavioral health interventions for different stakeholders. .
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe AHRQ guidelines for smoking cessation 2. Evaluate smoking cessation programs in managed care organizations 3. Develop a program theory for implementation of smoking cessation 4. Identify critical success factors for smoking cessation programs 5. Discuss the business case for smoking cessation programs
Keywords: System Involvement, Smoking Cessation
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.