Automating Tobacco Cessation in Primary Care

This study focuses on improving how primary care teams identify patients who smoke and offer access to nicotine replacement therapy, or NRT. NRT includes medications such as nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges that can reduce cravings and support people who are interested in cutting back or quitting smoking. Although NRT is an evidence-based treatment option, it is not always discussed or prescribed during routine primary care visits. To better understand how NRT can be offered in primary care, the project will test a workflow at Penn Family Care that identifies patients who currently smoke and provides information about available tobacco treatment options. Edward Cooper Internal Medicine will serve as a comparison site. Patients who smoke and/or are prescribed NRT will also receive a 30-day follow-up survey to learn whether they received, picked up, or used NRT; whether it was useful; and what barriers they experienced.