CDC Office on Smoking and Health

Organizational Summary

What is the mission of your organization with respect to tobacco cessation?

The goal of the CDC/OSH is to promote tobacco use cessation among adults and youth.

What types of products or services do you offer presently?

The CDC website has many resources for tobacco cessation at www.cdc.gov/tobacco. New resources added this year are:

  1. The Cessation Resource Center contains materials gathered from states and partner organizations. A static site is currently in place with 7 state submitted documents. An interactive, password protected site will be available in March 2005 and the site will eventually contain approximately 50 documents that can be downloaded and used by states and partner organizations.
     
  2. The Quitline Resource Guide, Telephone Quitlines: A Resource Guide for Development, Implementation, and Evaluation, is on the website, and hard copy can be ordered from the warehouse.
     
  3. Coverage for Tobacco Use Cessation Treatments is on the website and can be ordered from the warehouse.
     
  4. Youth Tobacco Cessation: A Guide for Making Informed Decisions is available from the warehouse and will posted on the website by early spring.
     
  5. The Health Systems Tool Kit is expected to be completed late spring 2005.

What are any current initiatives underway in your organization regarding tobacco cessation?

The following are four strategies being undertaken this year.

  1. Developing a Cessation Resource Center and participating in the development of a consumer cessation strategy to help increase the demand for cessation information and services.
     
  2. Supplemental quitline funding has been distributed to 49 states and the District of Columbia in addition to several territories to either implement or expand quitline increase the number of health care systems that deliver cessation treatments using evidence-based guidelines and quality assurance measures.
     
  3. Coordination with a variety of partners on policy issues especially the DHHS Tobacco Free Campus Initiative, expand Medicare coverage, support the Medicaid survey of tobacco treatment initiatives, and support the PCHT to increase the number of policy initiatives that promote and support cessation treatment (e.g. insurance coverage that reduces out-of-pocket costs).
     
  4. The CDC/OSH goals also include coordination with chronic disease initiatives to explore innovative strategies for developing integrated approaches to worksite and health systems initiatives and partnering with the National Partnership to Help Pregnant Smokers Quit services. This has been done in cooperation with NCI/CIS which has developed the national portal number 1-800-QUITNOW which electronically transfers calls directly to states with quitlines and CIS is temporarily managing calls for states without a quitline. The Quitline Resource Guide is being actively disseminated to increase access and availability of proven, population–based cessation treatments (e.g. pharmacotherapy and behavioral counseling through telephone quitlines).
     
  5. OSH has worked with the Partnership for Prevention to submit a background statement to Medicare to support the addition of coverage for counseling under Medicare. This has been announced and currently comments are being accepted by Medicare. Medication coverage will be available for prescription medications with the new Medicare coverage in 2006.
     
  6. Complete, disseminate, and evaluate the Health Care Systems Tool Kit, Coordination with organizational partnerships on health systems issues, and coordinate with existing CDC agencies on chronic disease initiatives to help

What projects/initiatives are you considering for next year?

  • Undertake a BC/BS cessation benefits utilization study for federal employees
  • Support the National Network of Quitlines project
  • Support the Cessation Blueprint project
  • Coordinate a business and health cooperative to foster development of benefits for tobacco cessation and other chronic diseases.
  • Support the state Medicaid survey
  • Develop a coding project with managed care organizations

What would you like to become more involved in?

Increase work with the business and health care communities on benefits and services across chronic diseases. Determine how best to bundle outreach and services.

Who are the people in your organization that are actively working on tobacco cessation?

Corrine Husten, M.D., MPH
Abby Rosenthal, MPH
Ann Malarcher, MPH
Karen Siener, MPH
Anna Berkowitz, MPH

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