HealthPartners now offering new digital tobacco cessation tool

While rates of smoking decreased during the pandemic, overall tobacco cessation may have slowed ? and that's something HealthPartners is working to change with a new app-based tool called Pivot Breathe.

HealthPartners is offering the program first to its fully insured, small business plans and expects to expand eligibility in the coming year. Members who are tobacco users in the small group market can enroll in Pivot's tobacco cessation program for six months with no cost-sharing.

"Unlike other quitting tools, Pivot's app-based approach makes it a simple and convenient option and potentially more accessible than other cessation programs," said Ginger Kakacek, MD, HealthPartners Chief Health Plan Medical Officer. "Using tobacco increases the risk of cancer, heart disease and many other conditions and diseases. Quitting tobacco on the other hand has very clear health benefits."

Data show that quitting tobacco is also associated with a 10% reduction in medical costs over time. In just 3 to 6 years, a person who stops using tobacco can half their risk of developing coronary artery disease.

Smoking rates have steadily decreased in the United States, from about 20% in 2009 to about 14% in 2019. But the COVID-19 pandemic slowed progress. Phone calls to a national cessation hotline plummeted in 2020, according to the North American Quitline Consortium. Sales of e-cigarettes also rose, threatening the nation's decades-long improvement. However, data routinely shows that a majority of tobacco users want to quit, which HealthPartners hopes to capitalize on by offering the new tool.

How it works

Members can access Pivot Breathe through their HealthPartners online account. The app-based tool helps people quit tobacco on their own terms, using a combination of evidence-based features, including:

• An FDA cleared SmartSensor: The Pivot Breath sensor measures carbon monoxide levels when you breathe out. The SmartSensor provides real-time feedback on the impact of combustible tobacco use.
• Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT): Members who use combustible tobacco can receive up to a 12-week supply of NRT, such as the patch, gum, or lozenges.
• Mobile app: Self-guided, evidence-based activities to help abstain from tobacco that are available on both Android and iOS
• Quit community!: Peer-to-peer support group that you can rely at any time during the quitting process
• Coaching: Members receive a dedicated health coach trained in tobacco cessation.

To learn more, visit www.pivot.co/healthpartners.

About HealthPartners

HealthPartners is a consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization with a mission to improve health and well-being in partnership with members, patients and the community. For more information, visit healthpartners.com.