[AVBC 2025] Smoking Cessation ABC Approach
Care Process & Redesign
Organisational Leadership
Technology
Appropriate & Value-based Care Conference
National Healthcare Group
10 November 2025
To increase the A1 in NHG A1B2C3 Smoking Cessation framework for patients admitted to the Respiratory & Critical Care. The interventions show promise for improving smoking status documentation and cessation support in RCCM.
Year Submitted: 2025
Published Date: 10 November 2025
Tags: Care Process ＆ Redesign, Technology, Organisational Leadership, Quality Improvement, Workflow Redesign, Productivity, Cost Saving, Digitalisation, Digital Platforms, Records Management
About this Content
Aims
To increase the A1 in NHG A1B2C3 Smoking Cessation framework for patients admitted to the Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine (RCCM) department from 75% to 100% over 6 months.
Background
The August 2023 Epic EHR rollout disrupted workflows, causing over 25% of general ward patients to miss smoking status screening. In RCCM, only 75% had this documented in the SDOH section. This inconsistency and underuse of Epic features led to missed chances for timely cessation support during hospitalization, prompting a quality improvement initiative to close these gaps and improve outcomes.
Methods
Implemented various interventions including engaging other healthcare professionals to assess and update smoking status, structured training on SDOH documentation, establishing a daily review system, and addressing system limitations through standardized EPIC SmartPhrases.
Results
Tobacco costs Singapore $1.25B/year. 400 smokers are admitted annually at TTSH RCCM, and brief advice alone can help ~3% quit thats about 12 patients each year. Training all staff to give ABC advice ensures greater impact.
Conclusion
The interventions show promise for improving smoking status documentation and cessation support in RCCM.
Lessons Learnt
Strategies to sustain the mission statement and improve smoking cessation documentation and support.
Keywords
Smoking, Cessation, Training, Documentation, Compliance
Innovators' Details
Innovators' Details
Healthcare Cluster(s) | National Healthcare Group |
Organization(s) Involved | Tan Tock Seng Hospital |
Platform(s) | Appropriate & Value-based Care Conference |
Healthcare Professional Group(s) | Nursing |
Applicable Specialty or Discipline | Respiratory Therapy, Pulmonology |
Project Lead(s) | Lee Shu Yi |
Project Member(s) | Lathy PRABHAKARAN |
Connect with this contributor!
Lee Shu Yi - shu_yi_lee@ttsh.com.sg