Here are the five easy steps to get started. You will find more information in Guides for Providers.

Step 1. Identify smokers. Set up a system to identify and document tobacco use by patients. QuitWorks-RI has tools for office practices to identify smokers.

Step 2. Talk with patients about tobacco use during an office visit, a hospital stay or outpatient visit. Give the patient a "QuitWorks-RI Can Help You Quit" brochure. Learn how to motivate smokers to make a quit attempt and watch a 5-minute demonstration video produced by The Center for Tobacco Prevention and Control of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Step 3. Complete enrollment form, give patient "QuitWorks-RI Can Help You Quit" brochure, and fax enrollment form to QuitWorks-RI's toll-free line: 1-800-784-8669.

Step 4. Prescribe pharmacotherapy, if appropriate, for relief of withdrawal symptoms and to aid with stopping smoking. Use the Pharmacotherapy Guide and give your patients our simplified instructions for patients on how to use the nicotine patch (see Related Resources below).

QuitWorks-RI takes it from there. When your fax is received at the Rhode Island Smokers' QuitLine, our QuitWorks-RI counselors will call your patient within two to four days to complete a 15-minute intake and assessment. QuitWorks-RI will offer your patient up to five telephone based-counseling sessions, and other services.

Step 5. Receive status reports, review, and file in the patient record. You will receive a status report on our contact with your patient within a short time, and about seven months later, a report on their quit status at six months.