Smoking harms the heart, lungs and blood vessels and makes existing heart disease worse. It causes the blood vessels to thicken. Fat and plaque then stick to the wall of your blood vessels, which makes it harder for the blood to flow. This, in turn, may cause chest pain, high blood pressure and a faster heart rate.

People who smoke have a higher risk of heart attack, heart failure, lung cancer or premature death. Persons who quit smoking improve their health and the ability of their heart, lungs and blood vessels to function normally.

This measure reports what percent of adult patients who have heart failure were given advice about quitting smoking while in the hospital.

A higher score is better than a lower one.

The chart above shows how Cedars-Sinai's performance on this measure compared with the top 10% of hospitals in the United States, the national average for hospitals, the top 10% of hospitals in California and the California average. These data reflect care given to patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from April through June 2007. The national and California data reflect care given to patients from April 2006 through March 2007.