Hudson Health Plan Launches Ambitious Campaign to Help Members Quit Smoking

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. - April 15, 2013 - PRLog -- Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, accounting for one out of five deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC also states that for every smoking-related death there are 20 more people living with at least one serious illness caused by smoking. Despite these grim realities, only 6.2 percent of smokers successfully quit, reports the CDC.

But now smokers in the lower Hudson Valley have an ally to help them win their battle against tobacco dependency. There Must Be a Better Way! is a tobacco cessation campaign launched last month by Hudson Health Plan (Hudson), a community-based not-for-profit Medicaid managed care organization. The campaign targets Hudson's providers and members, giving them both interactive materials as well as support to start talking about smoking cessation and to help members kick the habit.

"If you are a member of Hudson Health Plan and you smoke, we're determined to help you quit," says Georganne Chapin, President & CEO of Hudson. "We are promoting 'There must be a better way!' by calling and sending direct mail to members and providers, and using our website and social media, too. We are doing everything we possibly can to prevent more sickness and death from tobacco use." Hudson estimates that approximately 13 percent of its adult members smoke.

Hudson chose to take an evidence-based approach to the challenge of tobacco cessation. "Significant literature has shown two things," notes Janet (Jessie) Sullivan, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Hudson. "First, smokers are more likely to quit when encouraged to do so by their physician. Second, their chances of quitting successfully increase when multiple strategies to encourage them to quit are employed."

Motivating Providers and Patients to Act

Hudson has mobilized a team of representatives to visit provider offices and distribute an eye-catching waiting room tear-off pad that Hudson created to encourage physicians and patients to talk about tobacco dependency. The pad features a photo of a young man with tape over his mouth, and the headline reads: "There must be a better way!" Written in both English and Spanish, the flyer invites people to take a tobacco dependency quiz printed on the reverse side of the page, and to discuss their quiz scores with their doctor during the examination.

Dr. Sullivan feels the tobacco dependency quiz will prove to be an "ah-ha" moment for patients when they realize the extent of their dependency. The quiz is also available on Hudson's website.

By answering quiz questions - which include "How soon after you wake up do you smoke your first cigarette?" and "Do you smoke even when you are very sick?" - patients quickly learn their level of tobacco dependency. A light smoker is warned, "Act now before your level of dependency increases." Heavy smokers are advised, "You aren't in control of your smoking - it is in control of you!"

The tear-off pad also includes a section for physicians to use that leads them through the "5 A's" - a sequence of steps recommended by experts to motivate and support cessation of smoking. The steps include assessing a patient's readiness to quit and, if appropriate, setting a quit date. The form also alerts practices' billing staff that Medicaid now covers tobacco cessation counseling, and instructs staff on how to bill for this service.

If and when Hudson members make the big decision to quit, Hudson follows New York State policy in covering their cost of smoking cessation medication and gives them free access to "Quit Coaches" as part of Quit For Life®, a collaborative program by Alere Wellbeing and the American Cancer Society. Quit For Life® includes Text2Quit(SM), a robust text messaging program that supports a member's fight to quit smoking even when they're mobile. These tools will help members use medications correctly, manage urges, and avoid relapse.

Measuring results

Hudson has developed the smoking cessation program as a two-year Performance Improvement Project for New York State. Hudson will closely monitor the program's results, and will focus on two primary goals: increasing the current rate of tobacco cessation counseling among adult members overall, and testing the effectiveness of the waiting room tear-off quiz pad by comparing the rate of smoking cessation counseling for practices that have the pads in their waiting rooms against the same rate for practices that do not have pads.

"Smoking harms nearly every organ in your body," adds Ms. Chapin. "It lowers average life expectancy by 13 or 14 years. We will raise members' awareness, and we'll give them the encouragement and support they need to become tobacco-free. Quitting isn't easy, but it can be done, especially with the right help."

About Hudson Health Plan

Hudson Health Plan is a community-based not-for-profit health care organization that provides state-sponsored Medicaid Managed Care, Child Health Plus, and Family Health Plus insurance coverage to 120,000 members in New York's Hudson Valley. Hudson uses every government dollar it receives to fulfill its mission, which is "to promote and provide access to excellent health services for all people." Hudson improves the health of its members and the communities in which they live through its innovations in care coordination, and by supporting over 5,000 local health providers. Hudson received the national 2012 Medicaid Health Plan Innovation Award for its Westchester Cares Action Program, an innovative integrated care management project. In both 2009 and 2010, Hudson achieved the highest quality incentive scores of any Medicaid plan in New York State, and in 2010, it received the highest overall performance rating of any Medicaid plan in the Hudson Valley. It also has earned the highest ratings in overall satisfaction among Medicaid Managed Care members in the Hudson Valley region since 2003.