Systematically Improving Tobacco Cessation Patient Services Through Electronic Medical Record Integration

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Public Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• The Health Information Act of 2010 encourages innovative patient care strategies.
• Integrating tobacco cessation support into routine healthcare is crucial for public health.
• Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems offer potential for streamlined health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and implementation of an electronic tobacco cessation protocol (eTobacco protocol).
• To evaluate the barriers and benefits of integrating the eTobacco protocol into an EMR system.
• To assess the impact of the eTobacco protocol on patient referrals to a state quitline service.

Main Methods:

• Development of a one-click electronic referral system within an EMR.
• Implementation of the eTobacco protocol across a healthcare setting.
• Evaluation of encountered barriers (workflow, EMR limitations, training) and benefits (referral rates).

Main Results:

• Referrals to the quitline service increased dramatically from 7 to 1,254 patients post-implementation.
• Key barriers included clinic workflow disruption, EMR system constraints, and training challenges.
• The eTobacco protocol demonstrated significant potential for increasing patient engagement with cessation resources.

Conclusions:

• Electronic tobacco cessation protocols integrated into EMR systems can effectively increase patient referrals.
• Healthcare systems can leverage EMR modifications to reduce tobacco use rates and meet Meaningful Use criteria.
• Further research is needed to correlate eTobacco protocol referrals with actual patient tobacco cessation success rates.