NOW Smoking In Fashion

A healthcare premium differential is just one example of a workplace incentive employers are using to encourage healthy lifestyles and to get employees to quit smoking. Smoking cessation in the workplace is a hot topic in the media, but until now there hasn't been any proof that incentives to encourage people to quit smoking actually improve cessation rates.

Free & Clear, Inc., the national leader in evidence-based tobacco-cessation programs delivered via the phone and internet, today announced results of a 2007 analysis of cessation outcomes. The analysis, which was conducted among more than 1,150 participants, found that quit rates of employer programs exceeded 40 percent and that employer programs that included premium differentials and/or other incentives, which are generally incorporated into comprehensive cessation programs, had the highest quit rates, 50 percent higher than clients without incentives.

To date, this is the first real-world evaluation that shows how incentives as part of a comprehensive worksite tobacco-control effort that includes the availability of phone-based counseling, can positively impact quit rates.

"An increasing number of employers are directly funding tobacco-cessation programs," said Dr. Susan Zbikowski, Free & Clear's Vice President of Clinical and Behavioral Sciences. "Employer-funded cessation programs are very successful. The results of this analysis provide evidence that incentives are successful as part of a comprehensive tobacco-control strategy used by employers."

A number of Free & Clear clients incorporate incentives into their tobacco-cessation programming. Employers focused on providing employees with a comprehensive cessation program generally include a variety of tactics, including policies for a smoke-free worksite, access to free intensive counseling services and medication, premium differentials and other incentives for engaging in, and/or completing, the program.

"Nearly 30 percent of Free & Clear's clients implement some kind of incentive to get people to quit tobacco," said Mary Kate Salley, Free & Clear's Senior Vice President of Client Services. "Given the data we now have showing how much more effective a comprehensive approach can be, other organizations might benefit from incorporating additional tactics such as incentives into their tobacco-cessation strategy."

Free & Clear's Quit For Life® Program helps people overcome their addiction to tobacco using a combination of phone-based cognitive behavioral coaching, medication support and web-based learning and social support. The Quit For Life Program has helped more than 200,000 Americans successfully quit smoking since 2004, translating to over two million years of life added and $1 billion in cost savings. Free & Clear's Quit For Life Program is currently offered by over 200 employer, health plan and government clients.

In 2007, Free & Clear carried out an analysis of predictors of quit outcomes. Results are based on nearly 1,150 participants from employers offering the Quit For Life Program. Participant characteristics (e.g., demographics and tobacco history variables), program utilization (e.g., number of calls completed), and program/benefit structure (e.g., direct provision of medications, re-enrollment options, use of premium differentials and/or other incentives) were analyzed as predictors of six-month quit outcomes. A multivariate logistic analysis was conducted. A final model was derived by testing all significant variables from separate models simultaneously and removing variables that were no longer significant. Number of calls completed, time to first tobacco use upon waking, age and program/benefit design (use of premium differentials and/or other incentives) were determined to be significant predictors of quitting at six months.