This issue of Tobacco Control contains the proceedings of a conference, Addressing tobacco in managed care: partnering for success, held on 3 and 4 February 1998 in Arlington, Virginia, United States. The conference was intended to encourage the use of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) smoking cessation guideline1 in health plans and to provide an opportunity for such plans to share their experiences and best practices regarding tobacco control. A recent supplement to this journal thoroughly describes the AHCPR guideline, including implementation issues, field examples and the roles and reactions of various components of the healthcare system.2 In 1998, more than 80% of workers covered by health plans receive their care through health maintenance organisations (HMOs) and other forms of managed care.3 A basic principle of HMOs has been an emphasis on prevention, although the application of this principle has been more often conceptual than realised. Several factors have pushed managed care organisations to do better at making prevention a …