Background:
Blended care, the use of eHealth applications combined with behavioural smoking cessation support (SCS), has multiple advantages. It could potentially be more effective and better suited to the wishes and needs of patients and professionals compared to behavioural SCS alone. However, little is known about the provision of blended care for SCS in Dutch GP (general practitioner) practices, as well as the factors influencing implementation.

Aim:
To investigate the provision of blended care for SCS in Dutch GP practices and to identify facilitators and barriers regarding the implementation of blended care for SCS.

Methods:
Two complimentary methods were used. An online survey was conducted among a representative group of Dutch GP practice professionals (n=137; 22% response) and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 GP practice professionals who provided blended care for SCS. The interviews were guided by attributes of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations theory: relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, trialability, and observability.

Findings:
Based on the survey we found that 38% of the professionals recommended eHealth applications for SCS and 21% reported to provide blended care for SCS. Reasons for not advising eHealth applications were a lack of knowledge and a preference for the current SCS offered. Based on the interviews, multiple facilitators for the adoption of blended care were identified, such as improvement of quitters' motivation, user-friendliness and trialability of eHealth. The main barrier for professionals to start using blended care was the time investment necessary for adoption due to a lack of clear and reliable information provision and education about blended care.

Conclusions:
Blended care seems a promising SCS method, but the adoption rate in Dutch GP practices is limited. Based on the findings, implications for improving blended care for SCS in Europe will be discussed.