Expect more patients to seek smoking cessation as PSA campaign returns

The images are intentionally unpleasant – a woman in her 50s installing the speaker that enables her to be heard, the diabetic with a lost leg suffering from kidney failure. They’re encouraging people to stop smoking to avoid suffering similar fates in a national ad campaign sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and funded by the Affordable Care Act.

 

They’re returning to the airwaves this week, according to the New York Times, because they’re proven to work. Calls to the national smoking quit line doubled during the 12-week run of a commercial showing a longtime smoker from North Carolina with head and neck cancer caused by smoking.

 

Because 20% of callers to the quit line are shown to quit smoking for good, the estimated cost of the campaign is less than $1,000 for each successful quitter. Physician practices also can get paid for furnishing smoking cessation services, Part B News has reported. If the number of calls to the 1-800-QUIT-NOW line doubles again during this upcoming ad campaign, expect more patients to seek this help and be prepared to provide it.