Susan H. Swartz, MD, MPH

Director, Center for Tobacco Independence
Department of Medicine
Maine Medical Center
(207) 662-7152 Office
(207) 662-7135 Fax
swarts@mmc.org

Biosketch

Dr. Sue Swartz is a general internist and public health researcher, with a focus on tobacco dependence treatment and chronic care improvement.  She is Director at the Center for Tobacco Independence, where she supervises and evaluates Maine’s statewide Tobacco Treatment Initiative – the Maine Tobacco HelpLine, the Medication Voucher Program and the Tobacco Treatment Training Program.

Dr. Swartz is principal investigator at the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation. She conducts clinical and health services research that focus on delivering efficacious therapies for tobacco use, integrating chronic care interventions into the health delivery system, practice-based performance measurement and quality improvement, and using technology for enhanced communications to change behavior.

Projects and clinical trials have been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Health Commons Institute, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Cancer Institute. The state’s Tobacco Treatment Initiative derives support from the Fund for Healthy Maine, a population-based, multiple risk reduction effort funded by the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

Research Interests

Tobacco treatment, chronic care, telephonic intervention, technology & health communications, health policy

Selected Publications

Swartz, SH, Cowan TM, Klayman JE, Welton MT, Leonard BA.  Statewide use and impact of tobacco telephonic counseling and free nicotine therapy in Maine.  Am J Prev Med 2005;29(4)2005:288-294.

Swartz SH, Hays JT. Office-based intervention for tobacco dependence. 2004 Med Clinics N Amer  88;1623-41

Sciamanna CN, Marcus BH, Goldstein MG, Ahern DK, Swartz SH, Graham AL,Lawrence K.  Feasibility of incorporating computer-tailored health behavior communications in prim ary care settings. Inform Prim Care. 2004;12(1):40-8.

Swartz, SH, Cowan, TM, Batista IA. Using Claims Data to Compare Users and Nonusers of a Practice-Based Website: Is There a Clinical Digital Divide? J Med Internet Res 2004, 9; 6(1): e1

Swartz, SH, Cowan T.  Maine Tobacco HelpLine and Medication Voucher Program: Outcomes 2002. Report to the Maine Bureau of Health. 2003.

Swartz SH, Cowan T, DePue J, Goldstein MG. Academic Profiling of Tobacco-Related Measures in Primary Care. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2002; 4(Suppl I): S39-S45.

Swartz SH, Ellsworth AJ, Curry SJ, Boyko EJ. Community Patterns of Transdermal Nicotine Use and Provider Counseling. J Gen Intern Med  1995; 10:656-662.

Reimbursement for Smoking Cessation Therapy: A Healthcare Practitioner's Guide, Professional Assisted Cessation Therapy, 2002.  www.endsmoking.org/resources/reimbursementguide

Employer Tobacco Policies 1998: A Report to the Maine Health Management Coalition. Maine Medical Assessment Foundation, 1999.

Swartz SH. Jury's still out on counseling and patches (letter). JAMA. 1995;273(3):181.