Self-interference digital holographic microscopy (DHM) has been found particular suitable for simplified quantitative phase imaging of living cells. However, a main drawback of the self-interference DHM principle are scattering patterns that are induced by the coherent nature of the laser light which affect the resolution for detection of optical path length changes. We present a simple and efficient technique for the reduction of coherent disturbances in quantitative phase images. Therefore, amplitude and phase of the sample illumination are modulated by an electrically focus tunable lens. The proposed method is in particular convenient with the self-interference DHM concept. Results from the characterization of the method show that a reduction of coherence induced disturbances up to 70 percent can be achieved. Finally, the performance for enhanced quantitative imaging of living cells is demonstrated.