Implementing a Staff-Led Smoking Cessation Intervention in a Diverse Safety-Net Rheumatology Clinic: a pre-post scalability study in a low resource setting

Quit Connect (QC) supports clinic staff to check, advise, and connect willing patients to a state quit line or class. QC improved tobacco screening and quit line referrals 26-fold in a predominantly White academic healthcare system population. Implementing QC includes education, electronic health record (EHR) reminders, and periodic audit feedback. This study tested QC’s feasibility and impact in a safety-net rheumatology clinic with a predominantly Black population.

In this publication, authors including HIP Investigator Dr. Christie Bartels, QC improved tobacco screening, readiness-to-quit assessment, and referrals and was also feasible and cost-effective in a safety-net rheumatology clinic with a predominantly Black population.