David Arenberg, MD, associate professor, Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, discusses preliminary results of a low-cost intervention to improve tobacco cessation practices within a large university health system.

This study was more of a quality-improvement initiative than a research study, states Arenberg, and explored What the University of Michigan health system providers did in terms of the basics of tobacco cessation.

The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends the 5 basics, which include asking every patient about tobacco smoking, advising every smoker to quit, assessing the willingness to quit, offering assistance to quit either in terms of motivational interviewing or pharmacotherapy, and arranging a follow-up.

David Arenberg, MD

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