“If We Can Get Them to Stop, They Can Have Such a Better Life”: Implementing Tobacco and Nicotine Dependence Treatment Services in Community Pharmacies in North Dakota

PEER REVIEWED

The workflow starts with a patient coming into the pharmacy, updating their demographic information with pharmacy staff, and being asked whether they use tobacco products. If the answer is no, they continue to pick up medications as usual. If the answer is yes, the patient will be asked if they would like help quitting and, if so, are advised to meet with a trained pharmacist. The pharmacist can then prescribe tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment medications and process the prescriptions through health insurance. The pharmacist should also notify the patient’s provider about the prescribed medications and follow up with the patient as they work toward quitting. If the pharmacist does not prescribe medications, another option is to refer the patient to NDQuits, the North Dakota state quitline, where patients may be eligible to receive free nicotine replacement therapy products. When the patient returns to the pharmacy, the pharmacist should continue to check in with the patient to see how their cessation journey is going.

Figure.
Basic pharmacy workflow for tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment in North Dakota. NDQuits is the state tobacco quitline. Over-the-counter (OTC) products refer to nicotine replacement products that can be acquired without a prescription.

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