The following information is presented for use by professionals who provide tobacco cessation and prevention services to Maryland residents.
This website's primary goal is to assist professionals who help Maryland tobacco users quit smoking and prevent the initiation of tobacco use among non-users. To meet this goal, we will provide:
- Updated information to help guide your current practice
- Tools to help motivate your clients
- A location to review brochures and materials
Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence-2008 Update (TTUD)1, a clinical practice guideline, was published to assist clinicians in implementing effective treatments for cessation. This guideline recommends that all clinicians should have a systematic routine for identifying smokers. There are five steps involved in providing a minimal intervention, called the 5 A's. However in 2013, Vidra et al. described a more effective method called Ask, Advise, Connect (AAC) which was "designed to address clinic- and patient-level barriers to dissemination by linking smokers to treatment."2 MDQuit recommends our method Ask, Advise, Assess, Connect (A3C) which is described as follows:
ASK every patient about their smoking at every visit.
ADVISE, provide brief advice to quit.
ASSESS client's readiness to change their smoking behavior.
CONNECT, utilize the Quitline or Fax-to-Assist line to connect your patients directly to the MDQuitline.
To find information that may be specific to your needs, please click on one of the following sections:
- Physicians
- Dental Professionals
- Pharmacists
- Pediatricians/OBGYNs
- Nurses
- Mental Health Professionals
- Health Departments
- Employers
- School Personnel
- Physical Therapists
- Respiratory Therapists
- Substance Use Providers
Talk to Your Patients! The State of New York Department of Health has put together this website with information about talking to your patients about quitting. The 5 A's are outlined along with other information for health providers.
Please CLICK HERE to visit the Talk to Your Patients website.
Ask, Advise, Assess, Connect (A3C): For more information on our A3C model please click here.
Fax to Assist
Please CLICK HERE for more information on Fax to Assist and our Fax Referral Program.
1 Fiore, M.C., Bailey, W.C., Cohen, S.J., Dorfman, S.F., Goldstein, M.G., Gritz, E.R., et al. (2000). Treating tobacco use and dependence-Clinical practice guideline. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Services.
2. Vidrine, J. I., Shete, S., Cao, Y., Greisinger, A., Harmonson, P., Sharp, B., Miles, L., Zbikowski, S. M., & Wetter, D. W. (2013). Ask-Advise-Connect: a new approach to smoking treatment delivery in health care settings. JAMA internal medicine, 173(6), 458–464. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.3751
