The District of Columbia Government, Department of Health, Community Health Administration and the Bureau of Cancer and Chronic Disease, Tobacco Control Program has awarded Alere Wellbeing’s Training Services department a contract to develop an online training to increase the use of brief tobacco intervention skills and referral to the DC Quitline among providers serving substance abuse and mental health populations. The services provided will include development of an online training on the brief tobacco intervention, three provider webinars to enhance and supplement the online training, application for continuing medical education credit for the training, and hosting and tracking of the training for one year. The goal of the training is to increase tobacco treatment in mental health and chemical dependency facilities, ultimately helping to increase quit attempts by individuals served by these organizations, thereby reducing the health impact of smoking on District residents.

Results from the Health Care Provider Outreach Program that Alere Wellbeing operates for Washington State have been accepted for publication in the journal “Health Promotion Practice.” The Outreach Program uses academic detailing and online tools to increase routine identification and treatment of tobacco users. This paper summarizes outcomes from the first two years of the program. For example, outcomes include a dramatic increase in Fax referrals by health professionals to the Quit Line from areas served by the outreach program. The Fax referrals to the Quit Line increased by 132% and 232% in the initial and expanded geographic areas where outreach was conducted, while declining by 39% in areas not served by the outreach program. The published results suggest that health professionals can be an important and reliable source of referrals to a treatment resource like the Quit Line. A field-based outreach program using academic detailing principles can be utilized to increase treatment referrals and holds application for other chronic disease areas and quality improvement programs. Schauer, G. L., Thompson, J. R., & Zbikowski, S.M. (in press). Results from an Outreach Program for Health Systems Change in Tobacco Cessation. Health Promotion Practice.

The International Quitline Institute (IQI) was a 5-day training program on quitline development and improvement held in Seattle, WA USA, October 9-14, 2011. The IQI is a collaborative effort of Alere Wellbeing (formerly Free & Clear), the University of Washington (UW), American Cancer Society (ACS), Pfizer Medical Education Group, National Cancer Institute (NCI), and other partners. Supporting agencies included the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control Foundation, and American Cancer Society. Attendees included individuals from Argentina, Australia, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, UK, and Zambia. 

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