How we know if we're succeeding

Measuring ourselves: smoking cessation

The basic facts

• Tobacco is the single greatest cause of disease and premature death in America today and is responsible for more than 430,000 deaths each year
• Nearly 25% of adult Americans currently smoke, and 3,000 children and adolescents become regular users of tobacco every day
• Approximately 1/3 of all tobacco users in this country will die prematurely because of their dependence on tobacco
• More than 70% of current smokers would like to quit, and if they do, the result will be both immediate and long-term health improvements

Our mission is to ensure that we know which of our patients are dependent on tobacco so we can offer them support, encouragement and help in quitting.

We measure the following

• The rate at which we consistently ask our patients during their clinic visits whether they smoke or use any kind of tobacco
• The rate at which we ask those patients who use tobacco whether they are ready and willing to quit (so we can offer them further help)

In 2006, we asked patients in our clinics about their smoking status 87% of the time, exceeding our goal of 80%.

N = number of patients in measurement

In 2006, we asked those patients who use tobacco if they were ready to quit 73% of the time, exceeding our 50% goal.

N = number of patients in measurement

For more information and helpful resources on smoking cessation, click here.