Development of a Multicomponent Intervention to Decrease Racial Bias Among Healthcare Staff.

BACKGROUND: Real or perceived discrimination contributes to lower quality of care for Black compared to white patients. Some forms of discrimination come from non-physician and non-nursing (non-MD/RN) staff members (e.g., receptionists). METHODS: Utilizing the Burgess Model as a framework for racial bias intervention development, we developed an online intervention with five, 30-min modules: (1) history and effects of discrimination and racial disparities in healthcare, (2) implicit bias and how it may influence interactions with patients, (3) strategies to handle stress at work, (4) strategies to improve communication and interactions with patients, and (5) personal biases. Modules were designed to increase understanding of bias, enhance internal motivation to overcome bias, enhance emotional regulation skills, and increase empathy in patient interactions. Participants were non-MD/RN staff in nine primary care clinics. Effectiveness of the intervention was assessed using Implicit Association Test and Symbolic Racism Scale, to measure implicit and explicit racial bias, respectively, before and after the intervention. Acceptability was assessed through quantitative and qualitative feedback. RESULTS: Fifty-eight non-MD/RN staff enrolled. Out of these, 24 completed pre- and post-intervention assessments and were included. Among participants who reported characteristics, most were Black, with less than college education and average age of 43.2 years. The baseline implicit bias d-score was 0.22, indicating slight pro-white bias. After the intervention, the implicit bias score decreased to -0.06 (p=0.01), a neutral score indicating no pro-white or Black bias. Participant rating of the intervention, scored from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), for questions including whether "it was made clear how to apply the presented content in practice" and "this module was worth the time spent" was ≥4.1 for all modules. CONCLUSIONS: There was a decrease in implicit pro-white bias after, compared with before, the intervention. Intervention materials were highly rated.

Secure Asynchronous Communication Between Smokers and Tobacco Treatment Specialists: Secondary Analysis of a Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention in the QUIT-PRIMO and National Dental PBRN Networks.

BACKGROUND: Within a web-assisted tobacco intervention, we provided a function for smokers to asynchronously communicate with a trained tobacco treatment specialist (TTS). Previous studies have not attempted to isolate the effect of asynchronous counseling on smoking cessation. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to conduct a semiquantitative analysis of TTS-smoker communication and evaluate its association with smoking cessation. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of data on secure asynchronous communication between trained TTSs and a cohort of smokers during a 6-month period. Smokers were able to select their preferred TTS and message them using a secure web-based form. To evaluate whether the TTS used evidence-based practices, we coded messages using the Motivational Interviewing Self-Evaluation Checklist and Smoking Cessation Counseling (SCC) Scale. We assessed the content of messages initiated by the smokers by creating topical content codes. At 6 months, we assessed the association between smoking cessation and the amount of TTS use and created a multivariable model adjusting for demographic characteristics and smoking characteristics at baseline. RESULTS: Of the 725 smokers offered asynchronous counseling support, 33.8% (245/725) messaged the TTS at least once. A total of 1082 messages (TTSs: 565; smokers 517) were exchanged between the smokers and TTSs. The majority of motivational interviewing codes were those that supported client strengths (280/517, 54.1%) and promoted engagement (280/517, 54.1%). SCC code analysis showed that the TTS provided assistance to smokers if they were willing to quit (247/517, 47.8%) and helped smokers prepare to quit (206/517, 39.8%) and anticipate barriers (197/517, 38.1%). The majority of smokers' messages discussed motivations to quit (234/565, 41.4%) and current and past treatments (talking about their previous use of nicotine replacement therapy and medications; 201/565, 35.6%). The majority of TTS messages used behavioral strategies (233/517, 45.1%), offered advice on treatments (189/517, 36.5%), and highlighted motivations to quit (171/517, 33.1%). There was no association between the amount of TTS use and cessation. In the multivariable model, after adjusting for gender, age, race, education, readiness at baseline, number of cigarettes smoked per day at baseline, and the selected TTS, smokers messaging the TTS one or two times had a smoking cessation odds ratio (OR) of 0.8 (95% CI 0.4-1.4), and those that messaged the TTS more than two times had a smoking cessation OR of 1.0 (95% CI 0.4-2.3). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated the feasibility of using asynchronous counseling to deliver evidence-based counseling. Low participant engagement or a lack of power could be potential explanations for the nonassociation with smoking cessation. Future trials should explore approaches to increase participant engagement and test asynchronous counseling in combination with other approaches for improving the rates of smoking cessation.

Magnetic work environments: Patient experience outcomes in Magnet versus non-Magnet hospitals.

BACKGROUND: The term Magnet hospital is an official designation ascribed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center for hospitals that meet specific criteria indicating they have a "magnetic work environment" for nurses. The objective of the Magnet designation is to encourage hospitals to design work in such a way as to attract and retain high-quality nurses and thus improve the quality of patient care. Empirical research has demonstrated that hospitals who earn a Magnet designation appear to have nurses who are more satisfied and committed to their work environments. Although research on whether patients are more satisfied with their care in these hospitals is still in its infancy, preliminary studies suggest that patients receiving care at Magnet-designated hospitals report more positive care experiences. PURPOSE: This study used a large secondary survey data set to explore the extent to which inpatient perceptions differed between Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals. METHODOLOGY: Ordinal logistic and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to examine whether Magnet hospital status and positive nurse communication are related to overall hospital rating and willingness of patients to recommend the hospital. RESULTS: Results indicated that patients treated at a Magnet hospital and patients who rated nurses' communication highly were significantly more satisfied and more likely to say they would recommend the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from this study suggests that it would be worthwhile for hospital leaders to consider organizational policies and practices consistent with the criteria put forth for Magnet hospital designation.

Perceived discrimination in primary care: Does Payer mix matter?

INTRODUCTION: Previous literature has explored patient perceptions of discrimination by race and insurance status, but little is known about whether the payer mix of the primary care clinic (i.e., that is majority public insurance vs. majority private insurance clinics) influences patient perceptions of race- or insurance-based discrimination. METHODS: Between 2015-2017, we assessed patient satisfaction and perceived race- and insurance-based discrimination using a brief, anonymous post-clinic visit survey. RESULTS: Participants included 3,721 patients from seven primary care clinics-three public clinics and four private clinics. Results from unadjusted logistic regression models suggest higher overall reports of race- and insurance-based discrimination in public clinics compared with private clinics. In mulvariate analyses, increasing age, Black race, lower education and Medicaid insurance were associated with higher odds of reporting race- and insurance-based discrimination in both public and private settings. CONCLUSION: Reports of race and insurance discrimination are higher in public clinics than private clinics. Sociodemographic variables, such as age, Black race, education level, and type of insurance also influence reports of race- and insurance-based discrimination in primary care.

Learning Through Diversity: Creating a Virtuous Cycle of Health Equity in Health Care Organizations.

In the US, a growing number of organizations and industries are seeking to affirm their commitment to and efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as recent events have increased attention to social inequities. As health care organizations are considering new ways to incorporate DEI initiatives within their workforce, the anticipated result of these efforts is a reduction in health inequities that have plagued our country for centuries. Unfortunately, there are few frameworks to guide these efforts because few successfully link organizational DEI initiatives with health equity outcomes. The purpose of this chapter is to review existing scholarship and evidence using an organizational lens to examine how health care organizations can advance DEI initiatives in the pursuit of reducing or eliminating health inequities. First, this chapter defines important terms of DEI and health equity in health care. Next, we describe the methods for our narrative review. We propose a model for understanding health care organizational activity and its impact on health inequities based in organizational learning that includes four interrelated parts: intention, action, outcomes, and learning. We summarize the existing scholarship in each of these areas and provide recommendations for enhancing future research. Across the body of knowledge in these areas, disciplinary and other silos may be the biggest barrier to knowledge creation and knowledge transfer. Moving forward, scholars and practitioners should seek to collaborate further in their respective efforts to achieve health equity by creating formalized initiatives with linkages between practice and research communities.

A web-based diabetes intervention for physician: a cluster-randomized effectiveness trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a provider-based education and implementation intervention for improving diabetes control. DESIGN: Cluster-randomized trial with baseline and follow-up cross sections of diabetes patients in each participating physician's practice. SETTING: Eleven US Southeastern states, 2006-08. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred and five rural primary care physicians. INTERVENTION: Multi-component interactive intervention including Web-based continuing medical education, performance feedback and quality improvement tools. Primary Outcome Measures 'Acceptable control' [hemoglobin A1c ≤9%, blood pressure (BP) <140/90 mmHg, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) <130 mg/dl] and 'optimal control' (A1c <7%, BP <130/80 mmHg, LDL <100 mg/dl). RESULTS: Of 364 physicians attempting to register, 205 were randomized to the intervention (n= 102) or control arms (n= 103). Baseline and follow-up data were provided by 95 physicians (2127 patients). The proportion of patients with A1c ≤9% was similar at baseline and follow-up in both the control [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.94; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.61, 1.47] and intervention arms [AOR: 1.16 (95% CI: 0.80, 1.69)]; BP <140/90 mmHg and LDL <130 mg/dl were also similar at both measurement points (P= 0.66, P= 0.46; respectively). We observed no significant effect on diabetes control attributable to the intervention for any of the primary outcome measures. Intervention physicians engaged with the Website over a median of 64.7 weeks [interquartile range (IQR): 45.4-81.8) for a median total of 37 min (IQR: 16-66). CONCLUSIONS: A wide-reach, low-intensity, Web-based interactive multi-component intervention did not improve control of glucose, BP or lipids for patients with diabetes of physicians practicing in the rural Southeastern US.

The art and science of patient storytelling-harnessing narrative communication for behavioral interventions: the ACCE project.

Narrative communication is an emerging form of persuasive communication used in health education to solicit actual patient stories. Eliciting a narrative is an open-ended process and may or may not map to desired intervention objectives or underlying behavioral constructs. In addition, incorporating actual, unscripted narratives into multimedia interventions is challenging. The authors evaluated a protocol of editing narratives for a multimedia intervention to promote smoking cessation in the African American community that maintains fidelity to the original message and was related to behavioral constructs from social cognitive theory. The authors used four steps: (a) narrative collection (videotaping), (b) narrative review (rating of content), (c) narrative editing (documentary style), and (d) pilot testing (usability and assessment of transportation). The authors videotaped 50 personal smoking cessation narratives. After coding for presence of theoretical constructs, perceived risks of smoking (present in 53% of narratives) was the most common related behavioral construct. Four narratives were chosen for inclusion in the DVD. Pilot testing showed viewers reported high level of transportation into the narrative. The authors found that some behavioral constructs were rare and difficult to solicit in this population but that the final product was engaging to the viewers. Lessons learned may be useful for other video-based behavioral interventions that incorporate personal narratives.

Development of an interactive, Web-delivered system to increase provider-patient engagement in smoking cessation.

BACKGROUND: Patient self-management interventions for smoking cessation are effective but underused. Health care providers do not routinely refer smokers to these interventions. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to uncover barriers and facilitators to the use of an e-referral system that will be evaluated in a community-based randomized trial. The e-referral system will allow providers to refer smokers to an online smoking intervention during routine clinical care. METHODS: We devised a four-step development and pilot testing process: (1) system conceptualization using Delphi to identify key functionalities that would overcome barriers in provider referrals for smoking cessation, (2) Web system programming using agile software development and best programming practices with usability refinement using think-aloud testing, (3) implementation planning using the nominal group technique for the effective integration of the system into the workflow of practices, and (4) pilot testing to identify practice recruitment and system-use barriers in real-world settings. RESULTS: Our Delphi process (step 1) conceptualized three key e-referral functions: (1) Refer Your Smokers, allowing providers to e-refer patients at the point of care by entering their emails directly into the system, (2) practice reports, providing feedback regarding referrals and impact of smoking-cessation counseling, and (3) secure messaging, facilitating provider-patient communication. Usability testing (step 2) suggested the system was easy to use, but implementation planning (step 3) suggested several important approaches to encourage use (eg, proactive email cues to encourage practices to participate). Pilot testing (step 4) in 5 practices had limited success, with only 2 patients referred; we uncovered important recruitment and system-use barriers (eg, lack of study champion, training, and motivation, registration difficulties, and forgetting to refer). CONCLUSIONS: Implementing a system to be used in a clinical setting is complex, as several issues can affect system use. In our ongoing large randomized trial, preliminary analysis with the first 50 practices using the system for 3 months demonstrated that our rigorous preimplementation evaluation helped us successfully identify and overcome these barriers before the main trial. TRIAL: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00797628; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00797628 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/61feCfjCy).

Patient complexity and diabetes quality of care in rural settings.

PURPOSE: Even though pay-for-performance programs are being rapidly implemented, little is known about how patient complexity affects practice-level performance assessment in rural settings. We sought to determine the association between patient complexity and practice-level performance in the rural United States. BASIC PROCEDURES: Using baseline data from a trial aimed at improving diabetes care, we determined factors associated with a practice's proportion of patients having controlled diabetes (hemoglobin A1c

Written Advice Given by African American Smokers to Their Peers: Qualitative Study of Motivational Messages.

BACKGROUND: Although African Americans have the lowest rates of smoking onset and progression to daily smoking, they are less likely to achieve long-term cessation. Interventions tailored to promote use of cessation resources in African American individuals who smoke are needed. In our past work, we demonstrated the effectiveness of a technology-assisted peer-written message intervention for increasing smoking cessation in non-Hispanic White smokers. In this formative study, we have adapted this intervention to be specific for African American smokers. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to report on the qualitative analysis of messages written by African American current and former smokers for their peers in response to hypothetical scenarios of smokers facing cessation challenges. METHODS: We recruited African American adult current and former smokers (n=41) via ResearchMatch between April 2017 and November 2017. We asked participants to write motivational messages for their peers in response to smoking-related hypothetical scenarios. We also collected data on sociodemographic factors and smoking characteristics. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify cessation strategies suggested by the study participants. RESULTS: Among the study participants, 60% (25/41) were female. Additionally, more than half (23/41, 56%) were thinking about quitting, 29% (12/41) had set a quit date, and 27% (11/41) had used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days. Themes derived from the qualitative analysis of peer-written messages were (1) behavioral strategies, (2) seeking help, (3) improvements in quality of life, (4) attitudes and expectations, and (5) mindfulness/religious or spiritual practices. Under the behavioral strategies theme, distraction strategies were the most frequently suggested strategies (referenced 84 times in the 318 messages), followed by use of evidence-based treatments/cessation strategies. Within the seeking help theme, subthemes included seeking help or support from family/friends or close social networks (referenced 56 times) and health care professionals (referenced 22 times). The most frequent subthemes that emerged from improvements in the quality of life theme included improving one's health (referenced 22 times) and quality of life (referenced 21 times). Subthemes that emerged from the attitude and expectations theme included practicing positive self-talk (referenced 27 times), autonomy/independence from the smoking habit (referenced six times), and financial cost of smoking (referenced five times). The two subthemes that emerged from the mindfulness/religious or spiritual practices theme were use of self-awareness techniques (referenced 36 times) and religious or spiritual practices to cope (referenced 13 times). CONCLUSIONS: Our approach to adapt a prior peer-message intervention to African American smokers yielded a set of evidence-based messages that may be suitable for smokers at all phases of motivation to quit (ready to quit or not ready to quit). In future research, we plan to assess the impact of texting these messages to African American smokers in a smoking cessation trial.

Recruitment of rural physicians in a diabetes internet intervention study: overcoming challenges and barriers.

PURPOSE: This paper highlights a descriptive study of the challenges and lessons learned in the recruitment of rural primary care physicians into a randomized clinical trial using an Internet-based approach. METHODS: A multidisciplinary/multi-institutional research team used a multilayered recruitment approach, including generalized mailings and personalized strategies such as personal office visits, letters, and faxes to specific contacts. Continuous assessment of recruitment strategies was used throughout study in order to readjust strategies that were not successful. RESULTS: We recruited 205 primary care physicians from 11 states. The 205 lead physicians who enrolled in the study were randomized, and the overall recruitment yield was 1.8% (205/11231). In addition, 8 physicians from the same practices participated and 12 nonphysicians participated. The earlier participants logged on to the study Web site, the greater yield of participation. Most of the study participants had logged on within 10 weeks of the study. CONCLUSION: Despite successful recruitment, the 2 major challenges in recruitment in this study included defining a standardized definition of rurality and the high cost of chart abstractions. Because many of the patients of study recruits were African American, the potential implications of this study on the field of health disparities in diabetes are important.

Impact of content-specific email reminders on provider participation in an online intervention: a dental PBRN study.

Engaging busy healthcare providers in online continuing education interventions is challenging. In an Internet-delivered intervention for dental providers, we tested a series of email-delivered reminders - cues to action. The intervention included case-based education and downloadable practice tools designed to encourage providers to increase delivery of smoking cessation advice to patients. We compared the impact of email reminders focused on 1) general project announcements, 2) intervention related content (smoking cessation), and 3) unrelated content (oral cancer prevention focused content). We found that email reminders dramatically increased participation. The content of the message had little impact on the participation, but day of the week was important - messages sent at the end of the week had less impact, likely due to absence from clinic on the weekend. Email contact, such as day of week an email is sent and notice of new content post-ing, is critical to longitudinal engagement. Further research is needed to understand which messages and how frequently, will maximize participation.

Health System Affiliation and 30-Day Readmission After Heart Attack in Black Men.

INTRODUCTION: Black patients who experience acute myocardial infarction and receive care in high minority-serving hospitals have higher readmission rates. This study explores how hospital system affiliation (centralized versus decentralized/independent) impacts 30-day readmissions after acute myocardial infarction in black men. METHODS: In 2018, the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database (2009-2013) was used to observe 30-day readmission for acute myocardial infarction by race, and data from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals (2009-2013) to determine hospital system affiliation for the states Arizona, California, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. A series of hierarchic logistic regressions were conducted to determine if hospital system affiliation mediates the relationship between race and 30-day readmission. RESULTS: Of 63,743 hospitalizations for acute myocardial infarction among men between 2009 and 2013, black men accounted for 7.1% of hospitalizations and 8.0% of readmissions. In both models, race significantly predicted 30-day readmission (unadjusted OR=1.25, 95% CI=1.14, 1.37, p<0.001; AOR=1.13, 95% CI=1.03, 1.25, p=0.046). After controlling for system type, black men were more likely to be readmitted after acute myocardial infarction than white men in both models (unadjusted OR=1.25, 95% CI=1.14, 1.38, p<0.001; AOR=1.14, 95% CI=1.03, 1.25). There was no difference in odds of being readmitted by race and hospital system type (unadjusted OR=0.88, 95% CI=0.25, 3.07, p=0.84, AOR=1.02, 95% CI=0.21, 5.10, p=0.98). CONCLUSIONS: Black men appear to be more likely to be readmitted after acute myocardial infarction. Centralization does not appear to mediate the relationship between race and 30-day readmissions for acute myocardial infarction. SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION: This article is part of a supplement entitled African American Men's Health: Research, Practice, and Policy Implications, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Exploring Online Asynchronous Counseling With Tobacco Treatment Specialists in the QUIT-PRIMO and National Dental PBRN HI-QUIT Studies: Who Uses It and What Do They Say?

PURPOSE: To describe the content of messages sent by smokers through asynchronous counseling within a Web-based smoking cessation intervention. DESIGN: Qualitative. SETTING: National community-based setting of patients who had been engaged by the medical or dental practices at which they attended or via Google advertisements. PARTICIPANTS: Adults older than 19 years who were current smokers and interested in quitting. Participants throughout the United States referred to a Web-based cessation intervention by their medical or dental provider or by clicking on a Google advertisement. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative review of 742 asynchronous counseling messages sent by 270 Web site users. Messages were reviewed, analyzed, and organized into qualitative themes by the investigative team. RESULTS: The asynchronous counseling feature of the intervention was used most frequently by smokers who were white (87%), female (67%), aged 45 to 54 (32%), and who had at least some college-level education (70%). Qualitative analysis yielded 7 basic themes-Talk about the Process of Quitting, Barriers to Quitting, Reasons to Quit, Quit History, Support and Strategies for Quitting, Quitting with Medication, and Quit Progress. The most common theme was Support and Strategies for Quitting with 255 references among all messages. CONCLUSION: We found rich communication across the spectrum of the quit process, from persons preparing to quit to those who had successfully quit. Asynchronous smoking cessation counseling provides a promising means of social support for smokers during the quit process.

Reasons for not intensifying medications: differentiating "clinical inertia" from appropriate care.

BACKGROUND: "Clinical inertia" has been defined as inaction by physicians caring for patients with uncontrolled risk factors such as blood pressure. Some have proposed that it accounts for up to 80% of cardiovascular events, potentially an important quality problem. However, reasons for so-called clinical inertia are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To derive an empiric conceptual model of clinical inertia as a subset of all clinical inactions from the physician perspective. METHODS: We used Nominal Group panels of practicing physicians to identify reasons why they do not intensify medications when seeing an established patient with uncontrolled blood pressure. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We stopped at 2 groups (N = 6 and 7, respectively) because of the high degree of agreement on reasons for not intensifying, indicating saturation. A third group of clinicians (N = 9) independently sorted the reasons generated by the Nominal Groups. Using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis, we translated the sorting results into a cognitive map that represents an empirically derived model of clinical inaction from the physician's perspective. The model shows that much inaction may in fact be clinically appropriate care. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: Many reasons offered by physicians for not intensifying medications suggest that low rates of intensification do not necessarily reflect poor quality of care. The empirically derived model of clinical inaction can be used as a guide to construct performance measures for monitoring clinical inertia that better focus on true quality problems.

Narratives to enhance smoking cessation interventions among African-American smokers, the ACCE project.

BACKGROUND: Low-income, African-American smokers are less likely to have resources to aid in quitting smoking. Narrative communication may provide an enhancement to traditional smoking cessation interventions like NRT, medications, or behavioral treatments for this audience. After extensive pilot testing of stories and personal experiences with smoking cessation from African-Americans from a low-income community, we conducted a randomized control trial using stories to augment routine inpatient treatment among African-Americans at an urban Southern hospital (N = 300). RESULTS: Differences in smoking cessation outcomes between the intervention (stories DVD + routine clinical treatment) and control (routine clinical treatment) arms were compared using self-report and carbon monoxide measurement at 6-months. Compared to control, individuals who viewed the intervention stories DVD reported greater intentions to quit. Although continuous quitting marginally favored the intervention, our main result did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.16). CONCLUSION: Narrative communication via storytelling to promote smoking cessation among African-Americans in the South is one method to communicate smoking cessation. Results suggest this may not be sufficient as a stand-alone augmentation of routine clinical treatment for continuous smoking cessation. Smoking cessation efforts need to continually assess different means of communicating to smokers about quitting. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: The ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier is NCT00101491. This trial was registered January 10, 2005.

Smoking-cessation e-referrals: a national dental practice-based research network randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use is still the leading preventable cause of death and morbidity in the U.S. Web-assisted tobacco interventions are an effective but underutilized tool in assisting smokers with quitting. The dental visit is an excellent opportunity to assist smokers in quitting by referring them to these tobacco-cessation online programs. PURPOSE: The study purpose was to test two patient referral methods-paper referrals (information prescriptions) versus paper plus e-referrals-to a web-assisted smoking-cessation induction system. DESIGN: RCT that used implementation research methods. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: A total of 100 community-based dental practices were enrolled and 1814 smokers were referred to the web-assisted tobacco induction system. INTERVENTION: The study intervention was a proactive e-referral of smokers to a web-assisted tobacco induction system called Decide2Quit.org, and the control group used paper referrals (information prescriptions) to refer smokers to the Decide2Quit.org. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: The outcome measurements were the referral numbers, Decide2Quit registration numbers, and the smokers' quit rate. Data were collected in 2010-2011 and analyses were completed in 2012. RESULTS: Although total referrals from intervention practices was lower than control, subsequent proportions of registrations among smokers referred to Decide2Quit.org were nearly fourfold higher (adjusted mean percentages: 29.5% vs 7.6%, p<0.01) in intervention compared with control practices. Subsequent rates of cessation among referred smokers were threefold higher (adjusted mean percentages: 3.0% vs 0.8%, p=0.03) in intervention practices as compared with control. CONCLUSIONS: Intervention practices using the e-referral system had higher smoker registration numbers and higher quit smoking rates than the control practices. This study finds that e-referrals are effective in getting smokers to the web-assisted smoking-cessation induction system and in assisting with quitting that more than compensates for any additional effort that e-referrals require on the part of the practitioner. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: DPBRN Hygienists Internet Quality Improvement in Tobacco Cessation (HiQuit); NCT01108432.

Variations in tobacco control in National Dental PBRN practices: the role of patient and practice factors.

We engaged dental practices enrolled in The National Dental Practice-Based Research Network to quantify tobacco screening (ASK) and advising (ADVISE); and to identify patient and practice -characteristics associated with tobacco control. Dental practices (N = 190) distributed patient surveys that measured ASK and ADVISE. Twenty-nine percent of patients were ASKED about tobacco use during visit, 20% were identified as tobacco users, and 41% reported being ADVISED. Accounting for clustering of patients within practices, younger age and male gender were positively associated with ASK and ADVISE. Adjusting for patient age and gender, a higher proportion of non-whites in the practice, preventive services and proportion on public assistance were positively associated with ASK. Proportion of tobacco users in the practice and offering other preventive services were more strongly associated with ASK and ADVISE than other practice characteristics. Understanding variations in performance is an important step toward designing strategies for improving tobacco control in dentistry.

Implementing point of care "e-referrals" in 137 clinics to increase access to a quit smoking internet system: the Quit-Primo and National Dental PBRN HI-QUIT Studies.

Integrating electronic referral systems into clinical practices may increase use of web-accessible tobacco interventions. We report on our feasibility evaluation of using theory-driven implementation science techniques to translate an e-referral system (ReferASmoker.org) into the workflow of 137 community-based medical and dental practices, including system use, patient registration, implementation costs, and lessons learned. After 6 months, 2,376 smokers were e-referred (medical, 1,625; dental, 751). Eighty-six percent of the medical practices [75/87, mean referral = 18.7 (SD = 17.9), range 0-105] and dental practices [43/50, mean referral = 15.0 (SD = 10.5), range 0-38] had e-referred. Of those smokers e-referred, 25.3 registered [mean smoker registration rate-medical 4.9 (SD = 7.6, range 0-59), dental 3.6 (SD = 3.0, range 0-10)]. Estimated mean implementation costs are medical practices, US$429.00 (SD = 85.3); and dental practices, US$238.75 (SD = 13.6). High performing practices reported specific strategies to integrate ReferASmoker.org; low performers reported lack of smokers and patient disinterest in the study. Thus, a majority of practices e-referred and 25.3 % of referred smokers registered demonstrating e-referral feasibility. However, further examination of the identified implementation barriers is important as of the estimated 90,000 to 140,000 smokers seen in the 87 medical practices in 6 months, only 1,625 were e-referred.