Case study · HCP recruitment & screening
Reaching the right physicians to explain a national treatment gap
MedPanel recruited and screened a geographically diverse panel of general internists and psychiatrists for a study of why smoking cessation medications go so underused — especially for people with mental illness.
National data showed that smokers were rarely prescribed proven cessation medications, but the numbers alone couldn’t explain why. Understanding that meant talking candidly with the two kinds of physicians who manage these patients — general internists and psychiatrists — each screened to precise practice criteria and spread across the country. Finding and qualifying that exact mix of providers is where MedPanel came in.
Numbers without the “why”
A large national dataset made the scale of the problem clear: across 14 years, smokers were almost never prescribed the proven medications that help people quit — and the gap held whether or not they had a mental illness. What the data couldn’t reveal was the reasoning behind it: how physicians think about cessation treatment, what gets in the way, and whether they approach it differently for patients with mental illness.
Answering that required candid interviews with two distinct physician audiences — general internists and psychiatrists — each meeting tight clinical-practice criteria, and drawn from across the country so the views weren’t skewed to one region. Sourcing, screening, and qualifying that specific provider mix is where MedPanel came in.
Why do smoking cessation medications stay so underused — and how do internists and psychiatrists view treating patients with and without mental illness?
What the research set out to do
Pair national prescribing trends with the physician perspective behind them.
Track trends in cessation-medication receipt among smokers with and without mental illness across a nationally representative sample.
Characterise physician attitudes and practices around tobacco screening and cessation treatment.
Identify the facilitators and barriers internists and psychiatrists face in delivering cessation treatment to patients with mental illness.
Surface system- and provider-level strategies that could move evidence-based cessation treatment into everyday practice.
Recruit, interview, analyse
A precisely screened, geographically diverse panel of two physician specialties.
Recruitment & screening
MedPanel sourced and screened general internists and psychiatrists against tight clinical-practice criteria — clinical workload, practice setting, and patient mix — and screened by region so the final panel was geographically diverse.
Interviews
Each provider completed a semistructured telephone interview (about 16 minutes) covering current cessation practices, barriers and facilitators, and how their approach differs for patients with and without mental illness.
Analysis
Interviews were transcribed and analysed with a hybrid inductive-deductive approach — a pilot-tested codebook, independent double-coding, and thematic analysis — alongside the parallel national prescribing-trends analysis.
A persistent gap — and the reasons behind it
National data set the scale; the physician interviews explained the why.
were not prescribed first-line cessation medications
Across 2005–2019, nearly all smokers went without varenicline or nicotine replacement therapy — the frontline treatments for tobacco use disorder — regardless of mental illness status.
of psychiatrists named smoking-as-coping the top barrier
The most-cited obstacle in the interviews was the perception of smoking as a coping mechanism for mental illness — raised by 80% of psychiatrists and 60% of internists.
personally offered cessation counseling
Although 85% of providers routinely screened smoking status and 95% offered cessation medication, only 58% said they personally provided counseling — a gap between screening and hands-on support.
bupropion use for serious mental illness by 2019
The one clear upward trend: bupropion prescribing for smokers with serious mental illness roughly doubled from 8.0% in 2005 to 16.7% in 2019, even as other cessation medications stayed flat.
The right physicians, screened to spec
The qualitative insight at the heart of this study depended on reaching the right clinicians. MedPanel sourced and screened both general internists and psychiatrists to exact practice criteria, and screened by region so the panel reflected views from across the country — not just one market.
That precisely qualified, geographically diverse sample is what made the provider interviews credible, turning a national prescribing gap into a clear picture of the attitudes and barriers behind it. It is a strong example of how MedPanel’s healthcare-provider panel and screening rigour power research that needs exactly the right respondents.
Two specialties qualified
General internists and psychiatrists screened to precise clinical-practice criteria.
Geographic diversity built in
Screening by region produced a panel spanning the country.
Interview-ready sample
40 eligible providers delivered for semistructured interviews.
Published, peer-reviewed
The study MedPanel recruited for — available in full.
Peer-reviewed publication · 2023
Smoking Cessation Medication Prescribing for Smokers With and Without Mental Illness
A mixed-methods study pairing 14 years of national prescribing trends with physician interviews on attitudes, practices, and barriers to smoking cessation treatment for people with and without mental illness. MedPanel recruited and screened the general internists and psychiatrists for the interview portion of this study.
Read the full study
MedPanel provided physician recruitment and screening for the interview portion of this peer-reviewed study. Figures shown are drawn from the published article.