Strategic use of tobacco treatment specialists as an innovation for tobacco cessation health systems change within health care organizations.

Background: Tobacco screening interventions have demonstrated effectiveness at improving population health, yet many people who want to quit using tobacco lack access to professional assistance. One way to address this gap is to train members of the clinical team as tobacco treatment specialists (TTSs).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand how TTSs have been used across a variety of health care organizations implementing health systems change for tobacco treatment and examine the sustainability of TTSs as a health systems change innovation for tobacco cessation.

Methodology: This study used qualitative interviews ( n = 25) to identify themes related to implementing TTSs as a health systems change innovation and examined these themes within the constructs of the theory of innovation implementation.

Results: Insights about implementing TTSs as an innovation primarily aligned with four theoretical constructs: implementation policies and practices, implementation climate, innovation-values fit, and implementation effectiveness. Specific themes were perceived to facilitate the sustainability of TTSs including team-based TTS efforts, widespread awareness of TTS roles, leadership buy-in, and recognized value of TTS services. Barriers to sustainability included inadequate resources (e.g., time and staff), lack of tracking outcomes, inappropriate referrals, and lack of reimbursement.

Practice Implications: Health care organizations planning to implement health systems change for tobacco cessation can encourage committed use of TTSs as an innovation by considering the insights provided in this study. These primarily related to five overarching implementation considerations: staff selection and training, tracking and dissemination of impacts, adequate resources, referrals and workflow, and billing and reimbursement.