Centralized Telephone Outreach to Assist Smoking Cessation Among Veterans

Smoking cessation interventions including behavioral and pharmacological components have been demonstrated to be both effective and cost-effective. Although there is a high prevalence of smoking and smoking-related disorders among veterans who use VA medical centers for health care, rates of identification of tobacco use and provision of brief and/or intensive smoking cessation services are suboptimal. Telephone outreach (TO) may serve to increase access to counseling and medications to assist smoking cessation. From the standpoint of health systems, TO provides the opportunity for centralized oversight and quality assurance, economy of scale, and dissemination strategies that are practical to implement. At the provider level, TO addresses barriers to delivery of services such as limited time and skills. From the standpoint of the smoker, attractions of TO include accessibility, convenience, and privacy.