Premera Partners With American Cancer Society To Offer Tobacco Cessation Program - Highest Quit Rate For Employer-Based Programs In The Nation

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 19 Jul 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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To help its members regain control of their health, Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska is partnering with the American Cancer Society (ACS) to provide Premera members with their best opportunity to break nicotine's addictive grip - the ACS Tobacco Cessation Program - that has the highest quit rate - 49 percent - for employer-sponsored programs in the nation.

Knowing that 70 percent of smokers want to quit, 40 percent try to quit each year and only five percent actually quit on their own, Premera's health and wellness team was impressed by ACS's quit rate being about 10 times greater than smoker's trying on their own. Equally impressive was the Association's willingness to adapt their program to fit the value-based benefit the company believed smokers need. In the ACS's high 49 percent quit rate, Premera saw the best opportunity to help the "hard core" smoker kick the addiction cycle by embracing the reality that smokers don't always succeed in quitting the first time.. or even the second time.

"As a doctor, I know that smokers not only need a program to help them quit, but they need a program that won't quit them," said Roki Chauhan, MD, Premera medical director for Quality and vice president of Medical Services. "Sharing our commitment to provide value to our members and employer clients, the American Cancer Society agreed to provide a tobacco cessation program tailor-made for Premera that can be repeated as often as needed with no added cost to the smoker's employer."

"We believe that this demonstration of committed support by Premera and employers will provide the confidence and will-power smokers want and need to quit one of the toughest addictions," said Dr. Chauhan.

Reflecting Premera's belief in basing care decisions on evidence-based medicine, the ACS program demonstrates their medical understanding of addiction by enabling the smokers to persevere with continued professional support until they succeed. Plus, after an employer adds the program to their benefit package, the non-profit ACS provides the added value of the safety net that allows smokers to repeat the program at no additional program charge to the employer. Unlike ACS's competitors' programs, charging an employer only once enabled Premera to help companies with as few as 200 employees add the program to enhance their "cultures of wellness" already supported by Premera's add-on portfolio of integrated health management programs.

"Creating a culture of wellness demonstrates a company's commitment to their employees and the employees' families as well as recognition of the contribution their employees' health makes to the company's success," said Dr. Chauhan. "To succeed in today's marketplace, smart executives know that helping employees live healthier is essential to slowing their rising medical costs. By helping an employee quit smoking, the Centers for Disease Control estimate employers save an average of $3,487 by avoiding smoking-related medical costs and not losing production time due to the employee's illness. About half of that return is seen in the first year."

ACS attributes its participants' high quit rate to these essential program elements:

-- Having the Tobacco Cessation program's toll-free telephone number staffed by trained intake specialists to help 24x7 whenever the smoker is ready to quit;

-- Providing participants with five scheduled phone sessions specially targeted to the difficulty of the quitting cycle;

-- Supporting participants throughout the program with ACS's Quitline; and

-- Tailoring the program to meet individual needs, including nicotine replacement therapy such as patches, gum and lozenges, or information about support programs available in the community.

"Knowing that the decision to quit smoking can be made at any hour on any day of the week, Premera members can start the program by calling toll-free a trained intake counselor 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Dr. Chauhan. "Being available when a smoker is ready to say 'I quit' makes a hard decision easier."

About Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska

Our mission is to provide peace of mind to our members about their health-care coverage. We provide health care coverage and related services to more than 1.3 million people. Premera Blue Cross has operated in Washington since 1933, and Alaska since 1952. Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska is a member of a family of companies headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, that provide health, life, vision, dental, and long-term care insurance, and other related services.

www.premera.com