Abt to Evaluate Sickle Cell Disease Treatment; Improve Quality in Nursing Homes, Post-Acute Care Settings

Rockville, Md.-- Through two recent awards, Abt Global will carry out vital research and monitoring for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to help treat sickle cell disease and ensure high-quality patient care.

CMS awarded Abt a $17 million contract to design and carry out a multi-year evaluation to determine whether a new government arrangement increases access to innovative therapies for children and adults who have sickle cell disease. The Cell and Gene Therapy Access Model (CGT) is a voluntary partnership between states, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and CMS. Abt leads the evaluation in partnership with the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review and Dr. Julie Kanter, co-director of the Lifespan Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

Sickle cell disease is a painful, genetic condition that affects more than 100,000 people in the United States and disproportionally affects Black individuals. Revolutionary new cell and gene therapies have proven effective but are costly to patients and coverage providers. The CGT Model aims to increase access to these treatments for Medicaid beneficiaries while reducing health care costs and burden to state Medicaid programs.

“This model has promise to transform the care and treatment of thousands of children and adults with sickle cell disease, and potentially other rare and severe diseases,” said ZeAmma Brathwaite, Abt’s vice president for U.S. domestic healthcare. “As a longtime evaluation partner to CMS, Abt looks forward to assessing how this model may help to improve quality of care, advance equitable health outcomes, and manage rising healthcare costs.”

Improving Quality across Post-Acute Care Facilities, Nursing Homes, and Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities 

Abt was also recently selected, as part of a team with prime partner RTI International to develop and test a new Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Patient Assessment Instrument for implementation in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting Program, and to support CMS quality reporting programs to ensure patients in post-acute care facilities: inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term care hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities, and nursing homes receive the highest quality care. The five-year collaboration—part of CMS’s new Post-Acute Care (PAC) Quality project— will expand Abt’s highly successful portfolio of quality measure and instrument development work. 

“All patients and families should receive high-quality care that helps them live their best lives, no matter the healthcare setting,” said Nicole Keane, Abt senior associate. "Measuring care is a critical way to ensure patients and payers can achieve their goals. We are proud to support CMS’ mission to measure and monitor quality healthcare performance.”

Abt currently holds the Measure & Instrument Development and Support contract supporting CMS’s Hospice and Home Health Quality Reporting Programs (QRP), and Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Program. Abt has also collaborated with other CMS contractors on prior PAC Quality contracts, developing standardized patient assessment tools and measuring quality. 

Learn more about Abt’s work in healthcare policy and research.