Incentives2Quit

Our App

• The Home screen is where beneficiaries can see a quick view of their wallet balance, notifications, and chatting with a coach; the Home screen also displays trends, streaks, and progress throughout the program
• The Wallet page shows the current reward balance and allows beneficiaries to withdraw funds
• The Insights tab shows all the motivational messages, or “insights” that have been received by the patient during the program; beneficiaries are able to look back on these and “star” or “like” their favorites, only serving to enhance the motivation and momentum to quit
• The More tab includes account information, digital copies of the resource guides, and the ability to chat with a coach, and the terms of agreement

What is Incentives2Quit?

Incentives2Quit is a hybrid human-digital motivational interviewing-grounded incentive-based treatment. It is a state-of-the-science program that helps to sustain motivation and successfully quit smoking. The program includes monetary incentives that reinforce biologically-verified cessation (via breath CO measures) while simultaneously building intrinsic motivation and skills to maintain long-term tobacco cessation. Incentives2Quit is an effective motivational and incentive-based treatment, established during our previous pilot demonstration project among Medicaid beneficiaries.¹

References:

1. Tomlinson, D.C., Bonar, E.E., Zimmermann, L., Fernandez, A., Tzilos Wernette, G., Nahum-Shani, I., Coughlin, L.N. An Incentive-Based Mobile Health Program for Smoking Cessation in Low-Resource Populations with a Pilot Micro-Randomized Trial. (Under review).

Why Smoking Cessation?

• Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and Michigan.¹
• If no one smoked cigarettes, 1 of every 3 cancer-related deaths in the United States would not happen.¹
• Cigarette smoking is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the United States every year.¹
• Smoking causes an increase in blood pressure, leading to an increased risk of stroke and coronary artery disease.¹
• 24.5% of Medicaid recipients smoke cigarettes nationwide compared to 14% of the general population.²
• In Michigan, 41.3% of Medicaid recipients smoke compared to 19.3% of the general population.²
• Nationally, Medicaid could save $2.6 billion in 1 year if 1% of beneficiaries stopped smoking.²

In summary, quitting smoking is the single best health behavior change to improve quality of life and length of life.

References:

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, October 29). Health effects of cigarette smoking. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/
2. Glantz, S. A. 2019. “Estimation of 1-Year Changes in Medicaid Expenditures Associated with Reducing Cigarette Smoking Prevalence by 1%.” JAMA Network Open. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/article-abstract/2730483.

Science Behind Incentives2Quit

The diagram above represents the conceptual model of Incentives2Quit. The program has four key components that reinforce a person’s internal and external motivations to change their smoking behaviors. We target biochemically-verified abstinence from combustible tobacco, and engagement with the program app and the MI Tobacco Quitlink. These target behaviors are incentivized through extrinsic rewards (i.e., money) and intrinsic rewards (i.e., personalized motivational messages). Together, the target behaviors and rewards lead to reinforcement of behavior change and smoking cessation.

How Can Incentives2Quit Help?

• The Incentives2Quit program helps to reinforce behavior change for smoking cessation through monetary rewards for treatment adherence, smoking abstinence, and Michigan Tobacco Quitlink coaching engagement.
• Incentives2Quit is designed to be delivered in addition to existing Medicaid-covered services such as Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), FDA-approved medications (e.g., Chantix and Zyban), and cessation counseling.

Partners

• Michigan Health Endowment Fund (MHEF)
• Michigan Mental Health Integration Partnership (MIP)
• Molina Healthcare
• Mae
• Ouma Health

Testimonials

News & Events

2025

Incentives2Quit 2.0 has launched for pregnant Michigan Medicaid and dual enrolled Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries.