The Problem
Tobacco use is a powerful addiction and the #1 cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S., causing over 440,000 deaths annually. Employers spend over $196 billion per year in excess medical costs and lost productivity – on average an excess cost of $15 per smoker, per day or $5,455 per year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, paying for tobacco cessation is the most cost-effective benefit an employer can offer adult employees.
The Solution
Free & Clear’s Quit For Life® Program is the nation’s leading tobacco cessation program and employs an evidence-based combination of physical, psychological and behavioral strategies to enable participants to take responsibility for and overcome their addiction to tobacco use. Free & Clear’s integrated mix of medication support, phone-based cognitive behavioral coaching and web-based learning and support tools produces an average quit rate of 43%, making the Quit For Life Program at least 8 times more effective than quitting “cold turkey.” We are so confident in our industry-leading performance that we are willing to put our fees at risk for agreed-upon service levels and outcomes that clients can easily track using our transparent reporting suite.
How it Works
The Quit For Life Program treats every tobacco user as a unique individual and tailors a quit plan that is based on the participant’s lifestyle, preferences and tobacco use history. On the initial call, a Quit Coach assesses the participant’s tobacco use history and individual needs in order to help the participant identify destructive thought patterns and situational triggers that cause the desire to smoke. The Quit Coach then helps the participant develop a personalized plan to prepare for his or her quit date. The initial call also includes decision support for medications. If appropriate nicotine replacement therapy can be delivered directly to the participant’s home. Follow-up phone calls with a Quit Coach and interaction with Web Coach provide participants with the knowledge, behavioral strategies and cognitive skills necessary to successfully quit tobacco for life.
Participants Receive:
- Up to 5 outbound coaching calls and unlimited toll-free access to a Quit Coach® for the duration of the program.
- Unlimited access to Web Coach™, Free & Clear’s proprietary, interactive, fully featured online community that offers e-learning tools, social support and information about quitting.
- Decision support for the type, dose and duration of medication and direct mail order fulfillment if appropriate.
- Printed, stage-appropriate Quit Guides.
- Tailored, motivational emails sent throughout the quitting process.
Results
Free & Clear provides accurate, timely and detailed management reports about program results via Vital Signs™, a state-of-the art online reporting tool that provides greater transparency by sharing metrics that demonstrate trends and overall program status. Quit rates are assessed at 6 months by a follow-up call, when participants report the day they last used tobacco products. Participants who have not used tobacco in the last 30 days are considered quit. Our quit rates, customer satisfaction, participation rates and service levels continue to surpass industry standards. Free & Clear currently reports an average successful quit rate of 43% using the “responder” method of calculation. Since 2004, over 500,000 people have enrolled in the Quit For Life Program. Satisfaction with the program is consistently above 90%.