Thank you for your interest in the Quit Doc Smoking Treatment Network. We are proud to have developed a smoking
cessation program that actually works! As you can see from the enclosed abstracts from the American College of
Chest Physicians, our experience and data on over 1,000 patients consistently demonstrates quit rates of over 75% at
1 month. As you know from your practical experience, this is a vast improvement over the standard smoking cessation
rates of about 25% at one month.
So what is the Quit Doc Smoking Treatment Network? It is a network of physicians, psychologists and counselors
dedicated to education, prevention, counseling and research in smoking cessation. Our strength is from the collective
experience of each of our treating physicians combined with the dedicated leadership of our founding members.
Though our first few clinics were set up exclusively in pulmonologist offices, we have developed the program to work
well with any physician who has an earnest desire to help their patients quit smoking.
It is ideal for any physician who wants the satisfaction of making a substantial impact in their patients' lives while at the
same time improving the quality of their own lives by “working smarter, not harder”. At Quit Doc, we have found a
balance between effective treatment and efficient treatment.
A little background on the clinic; as a pulmonologist, I had a few patients who went to a clinic utilizing a “shot to help
you quit smoking” or “snake oil” as I believe I had called it. To my amazement 2 of the 3 patients successfully quit
smoking! That piqued my interest. So, while still working as a pulmonologist, I set up a small clinic in my spare time.
Initially I thought “Wow this is great! Just a shot and they quit smoking!” I soon found out that patients needed
significantly more than that. First of all, the success rate of the shot alone was not nearly that which was claimed in the
published article. In addition, I did not like the side effect profile of the shot. This anticholinergic shot was initially
patented in the mid 80’s by Brachynsky. The shot had Atropine, Scopolamine and Thorazine, I found the shot effective
but the side effect profile to be unacceptable.
Our research team then redesigned and applied for the patent on the SMART Shot ® which includes Scopolamine and
Atarax and seems to have a smoother side effect profile. In addition it can be administered as a single shot instead of
three and does not need to be injected behind the ear.
Secondly, giving a patient a shot in the hip and showing them the door is just a recipe for failure. We are dealing with
a powerful addiction that must be respected and treated as such. We have developed a program in which the patient
becomes educated on their addiction the week prior to their visit, and starts taking steps to dissociate the habit from
the addiction. By the time they arrive at the Quit Doc Clinic, they are excited and ready to quit smoking. After the visit,
there is ample follow up for those who need it. We have counselors, psychologists and our Quit Doc physician
counselors available. We believe that it is this combination of education and support that is responsible for our
incredibly high success rate.
Let’s briefly review the licensing program; we have designed the flow of the clinic to minimize physician hassle. You
basically tell us what hours that you would want to see patients (initially one afternoon or 1-3 hrs a week), we then
schedule up to 5 patients per hour during your requested time slot. The schedule is on an Internet-based scheduling
system so you will have access from anywhere.
The patient is sent a packet with DVD and instruction book complete with “homework” to be preformed the week prior
to their appointment. This is sent when they make their appointment (at least 10 days before the appointment). This is
designed to help them “break the habit” and look at their addiction differently before they come to their appointment.
The day of the clinic looks like this…At the top of the hour there is a 15-20 min group lecture followed by the individual
counseling sessions, vitals, spirometry, review of medical information and administration of the SMART Shot ®
(Scopolamine Mediated Anticholinergic Receptor Treatment) The patient then checks out.
The next day, we ask the treating physician personally call and follow up (the usual call is < 2 min). We believe that
this minimal time investment from the treating physician makes a significant impact on the patients. The Quit Doc
Smoking Treatment Network takes over from there and follows the patient with phone calls from our counselors several
times over the next few weeks. Our follow up support and counseling will give them their best chance of success. We
are there for them when they are feeling weak. Our counselors help enforce the fundamentals of addiction therapy
and keep them on the road to recovery.
For group support, a Quit Doc staff physician leads a group discussion every week via a toll-free number as well as an
Internet discussion board. For those patients that are struggling, we have a psychologist available to give extra
support. Quit Doc staff physicians are available for any problems with medications or refractory cravings via a toll-free
number. All of this is provided as part of our standard service. The program is labor intensive on our part but the
results are well worth it!
We have been so successful with our initial clinics that we are ready to branch out. Our business philosophy is that of
“patient success first, the rest will come.” In order to facilitate easy expansion, we have designed our business
partnership to be “easy in, easy out.” Assuming you have your own office and a spirometer, there is virtually no start
up cost (less than $1000). Quit Doc does not require a “franchise fee” for initial startup. This is in sharp contrast to the
other clinics that require up to $138,000 franchise fee. If you find that this is not a fit for your practice, or we are not
holding up our end of the deal, you should not be penalized. We are so certain that you will enjoy your time in your
Quit Doc clinic, working with people who are eager and excited to begin their new life as a non-smoker, that you will not
be walking away. On the contrary, you may find yourself limiting your “daily grind” practice and devoting more time
helping people change their lives!
The following items are available for download in PDF format:
Attached is a diagram of the clinic from the patient’s perspective.
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The abstract submitted to the American College of Chest Physicians in 2006
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A general overview of the services provided by Quit Doc and those provided by you.
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A nondisclosure agreement for use if you are interested in additional information
Where to go from here? Basically think it over and if you would like to see how our clinic works we can arrange for you
to observe one of our sessions. This way you get a feeling for the flow and logistics of the clinic. Once you actually
see the positive energy associated with one of our clinics, it is hard not to envision yourself as one of the Quit Doc
Smoking Treatment Network.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Kirk Voelker, MD
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