ASK: Tobacco Status at Every Visit and Document Sample Clauses

ASK: Tobacco Status at Every Visit and Document. “Meaningful Use”, a federal incentive program for electronic health record implementation, has a core measure for tobacco status to be identified within the past two years of a patient’s encounter. Tobacco status should be assessed at every encounter, however, since even quitters may frequently relapse. Use in the past 30 days is also considered to be a timeframe for current use. ENDS (e.g. e‐cigarettes, vaporizers, hookah pens) should also be documented as a tobacco product,4,5 although patients may not equate “vaping” as using a tobacco product like “smoking”. Passive smoking, or nonsmokers being exposed to tobacco smoke, should also be assessed. A screening question could be included in an intake questionnaire entered by the check‐in staff, medical assistant vitals assessment, or by the provider. Cancer providers should be aware how California’s cancer tumor registrars extract the tobacco status information from the medical or physician office record: tobacco status at time of new diagnosis, quitting within or more than one year from date of diagnosis, and tobacco product used (cigarettes, other smoked tobacco products such as pipes and cigars, smokeless tobacco, or “tobacco not otherwise specified” if insufficient information). Accurate information will assist with future epidemiologic studies using CCR. CLINICAL TIP: A comprehensive screening question is “Have you used tobacco or been exposed to smoke in the past month, including vaping?”