Use Guide to Plan, Conduct Tobacco Cessation Group Visits

If you'd like to add tobacco cessation group visits to your practice, but don't know where to start, help is available. The AAFP's tobacco cessation program, Ask and Act, has added a guide to group visits (12-page PDF; About PDFs) to its online Ask and Act Practice Toolkit.

The step-by-step guide covers preparing for a tobacco cessation group visit, conducting the visit and billing for it. Sample forms include an invitation letter, a script to use when calling potential participants, a group visit payment and confidentiality form, a sample SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment and plan) note, a staff task checklist, and a list of materials and equipment needed for the visit. It also offers a suggested group visit room layout and tips for dealing with challenging group visit participants.

The Ask and Act program provides resources to help family physicians and their practice teams help patients stop using tobacco.