Quit Plan Manager QPM is a TelASK Service

Address Three Imperatives
without adding manual workflow.

QPM helps cancer programs enroll tobacco users unless they expressly decline, connects them with treatment, returns outcomes to the EHR, and produces the reporting needed to meet CoC 5.9.

Imperative 01

The compliance mandate

CoC Standard 5.9 is not optional and the deadline for achieving it has passed. Accreditation now depends on it.

5.9

CoC Standard requiring systematic tobacco screening and evidence-based cessation for all newly diagnosed cancer patients.

Screen every newly diagnosed patient for tobacco use.
Offer evidence-based cessation intervention to all tobacco users.
Document outcomes in the patient record and report to CoC for accreditation review.
QPM operationalizes the mandateTobacco users are enrolled automatically under opt-out, offered support, followed up, and documented without adding workflow to clinical staff.
SourceCommission on Cancer Standard 5.9 tobacco screening and evidence-based cessation requirements.
Imperative 02

The cost avoidance case

Smoking patients fail first-line treatment at a higher rate. Treating those failures costs more. QPM reduces that exposure by improving treatment response.

$10,678

Incremental treatment cost per smoking cancer patient, modelled at 20% smoking prevalence and 60% increased treatment failure risk.

At a cancer center treating 2,000 newly diagnosed patients per year with 20% tobacco prevalence, the total potential incremental cost exposure is approximately $4.3M per year.

Cost avoidance, not revenue generationQPM helps prevent a documented, quantifiable cost generated when smoking patients continue to smoke through treatment.
SourceWarren et al., JAMA Network Open 2019; cited by the 2020 US Surgeon General's Report.
Imperative 03

The survival imperative

Smoking cessation after a cancer diagnosis significantly reduces all-cause mortality relative to continued smoking.

44%reduction in overall mortality for lung cancer patients who quit through a telephone cessation program.
52%reduction in overall mortality after cessation following stereotactic radiotherapy.
41%reduction in mortality after small cell lung cancer treatment compared with continued smoking.

Most oncologists do not systematically offer tobacco cessation to patients despite the mortality data. QPM closes this gap automatically, with no change to oncologist workflow.

Source2020 US Surgeon General's Report.
CoC 5.9 readiness workflow

From diagnosis to tobacco cessation — a closed-loop CoC 5.9 workflow.

This is the single operating workflow for cancer programs: QPM identifies tobacco-using patients through the EHR, enrolls them unless they decline, follows up for six months, captures cessation and quitline outcomes, returns results to the chart, and supports CoC Standard 5.9 accreditation documentation and management review.

1

EHR integration

A bi-directional integration is set up between QPM and your EHR.

2

Opt-out enrollment

Tobacco users are enrolled automatically under presumed consent. Less than 1% decline. Program reach approaches 100% of identified tobacco users without any staff effort.

3

6-month follow-up

QPM follows up for 6 months post-discharge with automated calls, texts, and emails. Patients are offered a transfer to the state tobacco quitline or internal resources at each contact point.

4

Outcomes capture

Cessation status, medication use, and quitline referrals are captured at every contact. All outcomes flow back automatically to the patient's chart in the EHR.

5

Reporting & accreditation

Patient outcomes flow back automatically to the patients' charts. Robust reporting is available for management. Reports support CoC Standard 5.9 accreditation documentation and management review.

The cost evidence

$10,678 per smoking patient. At scale, the exposure is material.

This is not a generic industry figure. It was modelled by MUSC researchers — co-authors of QPM's own published evidence — and was cited by the US Surgeon General.

Warren et al. — JAMA Network Open · 2019 · Open Access
Graham W. Warren MD, PhD; Kathleen B. Cartmell PhD; Elizabeth Garrett-Mayer PhD; Ramzi G. Salloum PhD; K. Michael Cummings PhD, MPH · Medical University of South Carolina
Key findings
  • →$10,678 incremental treatment cost per smoking cancer patient (20% prevalence, 60% failure risk increase, $100K failure treatment cost)
  • →$3.4B estimated annual US incremental cost
  • →60% median increased risk of first-line cancer treatment failure for current smokers vs non-smokers
  • →Peak attributable failures at 50–65% expected cure rate range

Illustrative cost exposure

2,000-patient program, 20% tobacco prevalence

Annual new diagnoses2,000
Tobacco users (20%)400
Cost exposure per smoker$10,678
Total potential exposure$4.27M
QPM program cost (starting at)~$25,000/year
Ratio — exposure to program cost~171:1

What does this mean for your cancer program?

The Warren 2019 model was designed to be applied at any cancer center, for any type of cancer and treatment combination. With 20% smoking prevalence among newly diagnosed patients — a conservative estimate — the per-program cost exposure is substantial. This is cost avoidance, not revenue generation: QPM helps cancer centers prevent expenditure that their smoking patients would otherwise generate through higher rates of first-line treatment failure.

The model is conservative by design. It only accounts for costs of treating first-line treatment failure. It explicitly excludes hospitalisation, toxic effects of treatment, second primary cancers, and end-of-life care — all of which are also elevated by continued smoking.

2020 US Surgeon General's Report

"Warren and colleagues (2019) modelled the incremental costs due to failure of first-line cancer treatments because of continued smoking. The Surgeon General's Report explicitly states that these estimates strengthen the rationale for encouraging cessation among people being treated for cancer."

In practice

What happens when a cancer center launches QPM.

Gibbs Cancer Center implemented QPM through the Epic Connection Hub. The result in year one was striking — not because the technology was unusual, but because the opt-out model finally made cessation reach the patients who needed it.

From 60 referrals a year to 627 — in twelve months.

Before QPM, Gibbs Cancer Center relied on manual clinical workflows to refer patients to quitline services. As at most cancer centers, many tobacco users who could have benefited from cessation support were simply not reached — not because of a lack of intention, but because the system wasn't designed to reach them.

After connecting QPM through the Epic Connection Hub, the opt-out enrollment model meant that every newly diagnosed tobacco user was automatically enrolled. The volume of quitline referrals increased more than tenfold.

Before QPM
~60
quitline referrals per year
With QPM
627
quitline referrals in year 1

"Gibbs Cancer Center integrated with Quit Plan Manager through the Epic Connection Hub. After one year, 627 patients had accepted Quitline referrals — over ten times the average of only 60 referrals annually in previous years. Quit Plan Manager and opt-out have been incredibly successful for us!"

Chad M. Dingman, LISW-CP, OSW-C
Chad M. Dingman, LISW-CP, OSW-C
Gibbs Cancer Center

"Our Tobacco Treatment Program at MUSC was an early implementor of the opt-out approach. We started with inpatients in 3 hospitals and have now expanded to 5 additional hospitals, the emergency department, the Hollings Cancer Center and 43 affiliated cancer clinics."

Benjamin A. Toll, Ph.D.
Benjamin A. Toll, Ph.D.
MUSC Health
Get started

Book a 30-minute CoC 5.9 readiness review for your cancer program.

We'll model the compliance gap, the treatment cost exposure, and the implementation path for your specific program — using your patient volume, tobacco prevalence, and cancer type mix.

  • CoC 5.9 compliance gap analysis for your current program
  • Custom cost exposure model using your patient volume and prevalence data
  • Implementation timeline
  • Accreditation reporting walkthrough — what QPM generates, in what format
  • Answers to any clinical, operational, or IT questions

Contact: sales@telask.com