Addressing Tobacco in the Community Health Plan of Washington: A Planning Project to Facilitate Tobacco Cessation in Community and Migrant Health Centers in Washington State

Purpose:

System changes aimed at improving tobacco cessation interventions will be examined in two pilot community and migrant health centers serving low income Washington State residents who are insured by CHPW, a managed Medicaid and state subsidized health insurance plan provider. The main thrust of this proposal is feasibility. The second emphasis will be building collaboration between the participating organizations. Specific tasks will include establishing and validating a tobacco user registry, providing enhanced coverage for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and reimbursing pharmacist-led tobacco cessation counseling at the time of NRT pick-up and refill. Information gleaned from these planning activities will lay the groundwork for a full evaluation of system interventions across all Washington State CMHCs in the second round of the “Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care” program.

Objectives:

• Establish and validate a registry identifying tobacco users and their readiness to quit

• Provide enhanced coverage for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and reimbursement for pharmacist-led tobacco cessation counseling at the time of NRT pick-up and refill

• Implement and evaluate tobacco cessation counseling strategies for community pharmacists

• Nurture collaboration in tobacco cessation efforts between the University of Washington (UW), CHPW, and CMHCs