Key Points: Healthcare providers have the potential to catalyze reductions in tobacco related morbidity and mortality by promoting cessation among patients. In 2004, New York funded 19 cessation centers to promote guideline-concordant care through systematic screening and counseling of tobacco users by healthcare providers. This presentation will cover strategies to implement and evaluate the cessation center initiative. Two cessation center coordinators will discuss their work with healthcare organizations to enhance systems and interventions related to patient tobacco cessation. Two evaluation components will also be presented: (1) a Web-based Community Activity Tracking system designed to facilitate the reporting and evaluation of cessation center activities by capturing information about activities conducted, challenges encountered, and organizational changes achieved by cessation centers through contacts with over 300 organizations, and (2) the New York Health Care Organization and Provider Study which assessed tobacco use identification systems and practices. This study found that most organizations have systems in place to assess tobacco use status; however, improvement is needed in integrating systems to promote other aspects of guideline-concordant care.

Learning Objectives: Participants will learn about strategies that have been successful in developing relationships and overcoming the unique challenges of working with a wide range of healthcare organizations. An overview of evaluation components will share methods to assess the impact of these types of programs.

Benefits: Cessation centers are a relatively new initiative in tobacco control, and hold promise for enhancing cessation activities in healthcare organizations.