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Measure Information Form
Version 2010A1


Measure Information Form

Measure Set: Screening and Treating Tobacco and Alcohol Use(TAM)

Set Measure ID: TAM-04

Performance Measure Name: Tobacco Use: Assessing Status after Discharge

Description: Discharged patients who are identified through the screening process as having used tobacco products (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, pipe, and cigars) within the past 30 days who receive a follow up phone call within 30 days after hospital discharge to determine tobacco use status post discharge.

Rationale: Tobacco use is the single greatest cause of disease in the United States today and accounts for more than 435,000 deaths each year.1, 2 Smoking is a known cause of multiple cancers, heart disease, stroke, complications of pregnancy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, other respiratory problems, poorer wound healing, and many other diseases.3 Tobacco use creates a heavy cost to society as well as to individuals. Smoking-attributable health care expenditures are estimated at $96 billion per year in direct medical expenses and $97 billion in lost productivity.4

There is strong and consistent evidence that tobacco dependence interventions, if delivered in a timely and effective manner, significantly reduce the smoker’s risk of suffering from tobacco-related disease and improved outcomes for those already suffering from a tobacco-related disease.5-12 Effective, evidence-based tobacco dependence interventions have been clearly identified and include brief clinician advice, individual, group, or telephone counseling, and use of the FDA-approved cessation medications. These treatments are clinically effective and extremely cost-effective relative to other commonly used disease prevention interventions and medical treatments. Hospitalization (both because hospitals are a tobacco-free environment and because patients may be more motivated to quit as a result of their illness) can be an ideal opportunity to provide cessation assistance that may promote the patient’s medical recovery. Patients who receive even brief advice and intervention from their care providers are more likely to quit than those who receive no intervention. Tobacco dependence should be viewed as a chronic disease. The treatment of this chronic disease is most effective when the initial interventions provided in the hospital setting are continued upon discharge in other care settings.15

Type of Measure: Outcome

Improvement Noted As: Increase in the rate

Numerator Statement: The number of discharged patients who received a follow-up contact within 30 days after hospital discharge to determine tobacco use status.
Included Populations: Not applicable

Excluded Populations:

  • Discharged patients who do not have a phone

Data Elements:

Denominator Statement: The number of dsicharged patients 18 years of age and older identified as current tobacco users.

Included Populations: Not applicable

Excluded Populations:

  • Patients less than 18 years of age
  • Patients who are not current tobacco users
  • Patients who expired during the hospital stay
  • Patients discharged/transferred to another hospital for inpatient care
  • Patients who left against medical advice or discontinued care
  • Patients discharged/transferred to a federal health care facility
  • Patients discharged/transferred to hospice

Data Elements:

Risk Adjustment: No.

Data Collection Approach: Retrospective data sources for required data elements include administrative data and medical records. Some hospitals may prefer to gather data concurrently by identifying patients in the population of interest. This approach provides opportunities for improvement at the point of care/service. However, complete documentation includes the principal and other ICD-9-CM diagnoses which require retrospective data entry.

Data Accuracy: Data accuracy is enhanced when all definitions are used without modification. The data dictionary should be referenced for definitions and abstraction notes when questions arise during data collection.

Measure Analysis Suggestions: Hospitals may wish to analyze the measure data using the test data element Tobacco Use Status Post Discharge to determine the difference in use status related to interventions made during the hospital stay or referrals at discharge.

Sampling: Yes. For additional information see the Population and Sampling Specifications section

Data Reported As: Aggregate rate generated from count data reported as a proportion.

Selected References: 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 2000-2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) 2008. 57(45): 1226-1228. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5745a3.htm-/.

2. McGinnis JM, Foege WH. Actual causes of death in the United States. JAMA 1993 Nov 10;270(18):2207-12.

3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The health consequences of smoking: a report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004.

4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs—2007. Atlanta, GA, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2007.

5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing tobacco use: a report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2000.

6. Baumeister SE, Schumann A, Meyer C, et al. Effects of smoking cessation on health care use: is elevated risk of hospitalization among former smokers attributable to smoking-related morbidity? Drug Alcohol Depend. 2007 May 11;88(2-3):197-203. Epub 2006 Nov 21.

7. Lightwood JM. The economics of smoking and cardiovascular disease. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2003 Jul-Aug;46(1):39-78.

8. Lightwood JM, Glantz SA. Short-term economic and health benefits of smoking cessation: myocardial infarction and stroke. Circulation. 1997 Aug 19;96(4):1089-96.

9. Rasmussen SR, Prescott E, Sorensen TI, et al. The total lifetime health cost savings of smoking cessation to society. Eur J Public Health. 2005 Dec;15(6):601-6. Epub 2005 Jul 13.

10. Hurley SF. Short-term impact of smoking cessation on myocardial infarction and stroke hospitalizations and costs in Australia. Med J Aust. 2005 Jul 4;183(1):13-7.

11. Critchley J, Capewell S. Smoking cessation for the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(1):CD003041.

12. Ford ES, Ajani UA, Croft JB, et al. Explaining the decrease in U.S. deaths from coronary disease, 1980-2000. N Engl J Med. 2007 Jun 7;356(23):2388-98.

13. Fiore MC et al. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service. May 2008.

14. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: The health benefits of smoking cessation: a report of the Surgeon General. Publication No. (CDC) 90-8416. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1990.

15. Rigotti NA, Munafo MR, Stead LF. Smoking cessation interventions for hospitalized smokers: a systematic review. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Oct 13;168(18):1950-60

Measure Algorithm:

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Related Topics

Measure Information Form TAM-04
Specifications Manual for Joint Commission National Quality Core Measures (2010A1)
Discharges 04-01-10 (2Q10) through 09-30-10 (3Q10)
Questions? Ask Question to Joint Commission staff Copyright © 2010 by The Joint Commission.