Aetna's New Toolkit Helps Physicians Work with Patients to Quit Smoking.

Effort supports doctor-patient conversations, encourages doctors to take '30 seconds to save a life'

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna (NYSE:AET) announced today that it is distributing 'Advising Smokers To Quit' toolkits to more than 8,500 family-practice and internal-medicine physician offices in Southern New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. The kits are intended to not only encourage a dialogue between physicians and patients on smoking cessation, but also to provide information and tools to aid physicians with management of their patients who smoke.

Physicians in these targeted offices were chosen since they see more than 900,000 Aetna members who frequently use their services, in addition to patients who are not Aetna members who stand to benefit from this program.

"This outreach emphasizes the important role that physicians can play in helping their patients quit smoking," said Dr. Dexter Campinha-Bacote, Aetna's medical director for the North Central region. "Studies have shown* that smokers are almost twice as likely to successfully quit for five or more months if they have a physician help them with the process."

Starting the Conversation

While the negative health impact of smoking is well-documented, it can still be a difficult topic for patients and physicians to discuss. Working with the American Cancer Society and Department of Health offices in the selected states, Aetna collected information and resources that could help both sides discuss quit-smoking actions more easily and effectively.

The materials being sent to physicians include:

* An action plan sheet that will help the physician and patient put a defined strategy on paper, such as the official 'quit date,' whom the patient can turn to for help, the proper medication plan and tips on how to avoid a relapse.

* A fact sheet that offers patients reasons to quit, as well as tips to help them quit.

* A cover letter underscoring the importance of physician intervention that offers three simple steps for physicians - ask patients about their tobacco use; advise them to quit; and refer them to the national telephone Quitline (maintained by the National Cancer Institute) for support (1-800-QUIT NOW).

* A poster for physicians that describes how a 30-second conversation on this topic can help save a life, as well as an examination room poster referring patients to the Quitline.

* A 'prescription note' that also refers patients to the Quitline.

"Smoking harms nearly every organ in the human body, increases the risk of at least 10 different cancers, and accounts for some 30 percent of all cancer deaths, yet despite all that, more than one in five Americans still smokes," said Joanne Pike, vice president, Corporate Initiatives for the American Cancer Society. "Aetna is providing its members with the resources to help them quit, including giving their physicians the tools to help their patients accomplish their goal of being smoke-free."

In addition to distributing these materials to selected physicians, the Aetna provider website will also contain information on this toolkit, providing any physician user with the opportunity to review the materials and resources.

This new program is part of Aetna's larger effort to help members with the difficult process of quitting smoking. This includes the company's Quit Tobacco smoking cessation program, a voluntary, one-year program that offers personal coaching and support by certified tobacco cessation specialists. In addition, earlier this month, Aetna launched the Aetna Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Program, a high-touch, telephone-based coaching service that offers one-on-one coaching sessions, educational materials, and Web-based interactive tools, along with rewards and incentives. One of the areas of focus for this coaching program is to help members quit smoking.

Both of these programs are part of the Aetna Health Connections(SM) family of medical management programs and services.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.4 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, government-sponsored plans and expatriates. www.aetna.com

* Fiore et al. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence. Clinical Practice Guideline. USDHHS, PHS, 2000.