Foreword

The American Association of Health Plans (AAHP) Managed Care Achievements in Tobacco Control Awards Program is an opportunity to recognise member health plans' efforts to increase interest in and capacity for reducing the health problems caused by tobacco. The awards recognise and honour the innovative and practical strategies, practices, programs and policies used by health plans to establish effective tobacco prevention and cessation interventions.

Now in its second year, the Managed Care Achievements in Tobacco Control Awards Program encourages health plans to build upon the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) guideline on smoking cessation, including evidence based standards and the demonstrated strategies outlined in the guideline.1 By honouring these exceptional efforts, AAHP demonstrates the commitment of health plans to promote widespread adoption of effective tobacco control interventions into routine clinical practice.

Tobacco control intervention opportunities are diverse—from clinical, outpatient, counselling or community settings, to behavioural and pharmacological cessation components, to the involvement of physicians, allied health professionals and employers. Aspiring toward national standards for tobacco control requires creative solutions adaptable and reproducible in a variety of managed care settings, as demonstrated by the Managed Care Achievements in Tobacco Control award winners.

The following award winning examples will assist you in identifying barriers and developing resourceful programs to improve smoking cessation rates and activities within your own organisation. AAHP and the Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care (ATMC) National Technical Assistance Office (NTAO) believe that by sharing these programs and methods we will be one step further in conquering the leading preventable cause of illness and death in Americans—tobacco use.

The awards program is one of many national activities supported by the NTAO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's ATMC program. The ATMC program promotes the study and dissemination of policies and practices, which reduce tobacco use among …