Southern Illinois Health Rolls Out Smoking Cessation Program, Sees Positive Engagement Rates

SIH identified a missed opportunity for tobacco cessation education following patients receiving low dose CT scans. After their scans, SIH staff didn’t have the time to follow up with patients to send information on smoking cessation classes, the Quitline program, and other important resources. While materials were available for those patients who sought out the information, it was not being pushed directly to the patients in a programmatic way.

Leveraging Xealth, SIH now sends automated custom content to patients who agree to learn about quitting smoking. The patient first receives a flier with information on the Courage to Quit program and the Illinois Tobacco Quitline. In addition to the flier, a questionnaire is sent to determine if the patient wants to enroll in the program. If the answer is yes, a message is sent to the InBasket in Epic, which triggers an SIH resource to call the patient to complete program enrollment.