Purpose:

This planning project seeks to develop one or more system-wide (Medicaid HMO) change to increase smoking cessation among Wisconsin Medicaid recipients. Possible system changes will be developed and discussed in meetings with 16 HMOs that serve the Wisconsin Medicaid Program. The Wisconsin Medicaid Program hopes to implement and evaluate these system changes in 2000. The Wisconsin Medicaid Program will also distill lessons learned from this public/private collaboration for dissemination to other state Medicaid programs who also desire to take a leadership role in smoking cessation efforts.

Objectives:

• Develop the working relationships among the Medicaid HMOs and the Wisconsin Medicaid Program necessary to develop and implement new system-wide changes.
• Collect baseline data that documents current HMO-initiated smoking cessation efforts and current level of smoker identification and treatment.
• Justify new system-wide interventions and propose an associated evaluation design culminating in a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Full Evaluation Proposal.
• Produce a final report that will be of use to other state Medicaid programs desiring to work on this issue with their HMOs.