INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

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NEW COMPUTER SYSTEM TO AID DOCTORS IN HELPING PATIENTS QUIT SMOKING

INDIANAPOLIS - Beginning next year, a computer will begin making what may be life-changing telephone calls to some Hoosiers who smoke.

The computer-generated call and the information it gathers, such as how long the patient has been smoking and if he or she thought about quitting, will be incorporated into the patient's electronic medical record. The computer system will then print messages on the patients' charts to help remind doctors to talk with them about the hazards of their deadly habit.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), through its Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care Program, has awarded the IU School of Nursing at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) a $50,000 grant for Associate Professor Anna McDaniel to develop this sophisticated computer system.

Research shows that advice to stop smoking from a doctor or other health care professional, even as brief as three minutes, can significantly increase the odds of a smoker quitting. Yet, more than half of smokers who visit their health care providers annually are not advised to quit.

"We know how to help people quit smoking, but we often don't see it implemented," said McDaniel. "Primary care providers play a critical role in promoting health, but competing demands on their time mean that preventive care is often overlooked."

McDaniel will team up with physicians from the IU Medical Group - Primary Care (IUMG - PC), Wishard Health Services' (WHS) Wishard Advantage program for uninsured patients, and the Regenstrief Institute for Health Care for the project. According to McDaniel, uninsured smokers are even more unlikely to receive advice about quitting smoking.

The program will be tested for six months at two Wishard-based community health centers.

"The funding from the RWJF gives us a tremendous opportunity to enhance the quality of our patients' care and ultimately improve their health," said Dr. Lisa Harris, chief medical officer for IUMG - PC and chief of medicine for Wishard Health Services. "We hope these reminders will encourage physicians to counsel their patients about smoking and therefore, help more patients combat their tobacco addictions."

McDaniel previously developed and tested the effect of computer reminders on hospital nurses in providing counseling to their patients. She has also developed a video game for young girls to encourage them not to start smoking and a computer program for low-income women to help them stop smoking.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grantmaking in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at reasonable cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse -- tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs.

IUSON is a state-wide multi-campus nursing school offering the full range of undergraduate, graduate, and articulation programs. The core campus is at IUPUI, which is nationally-ranked and committed to interactive learning that makes creative use of information technology.

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