Advise Patients: A Worldwide Respiratory Pandemic is a Bad Time to Start Smoking Again

Advise Patients: A Worldwide Respiratory Pandemic is a Bad Time to Start Smoking Again

Americans have been smoking less and less for years—that is, until social distancing pushed many to take up or increase the habit, according to data from Altria Group Inc., which owns the Marlboro cigarette brand. Sales were flat in 2020 after falling annually 5.5% the previous year, a slide that started years earlier thanks in part to steep taxes on cigarettes and the growing popularity of vaping devices, including e-cigarettes. This reversal comes at a …

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Smoking Cessation: The Time to Address Employee Smoking is Now

Smoking Cessation: The Time to Address Employee Smoking is Now

Urgent Message: Tobacco-related illness costs the U.S. healthcare system billions in preventable medical expenses, yet many employees of urgent care centers continue to light up. It may be time for your urgent care center to address the issue of employee smoking by offering incentives for smoking cessation. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. A …

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