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Supporting high-quality comprehensive care

Bleeding disorders affect people of all ages, races, and socioeconomic groups across the U.S. In 2012, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recognized the need to coordinate care for bleeding disorders on a national scale. The NHPCC was established to support a national infrastructure of regional hemophilia networks to promote access and high-quality, comprehensive care. It is funded by the HRSA grant #UC8MC24079 through the American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network (ATHN), its sponsoring organization.

Mission Statement

The mission of the NHPCC is to coordinate the efforts of the U.S. Hemophilia Treatment Center Network (USHTCN) to promote and improve comprehensive care for individuals with hemophilia and related bleeding or clotting disorders. Consistent with the vision of HRSA, the NHPCC aims to support access to quality services, a strong public health workforce, and innovative, high-value programs.

Working to support professionals in the field

In its coordinating role, the NHPCC fosters collaboration and shared learning among partners from the 8 regional hemophilia networks, hemophilia treatment centers (HTCs), government funding partners, and other members of the bleeding disorders community.

The NHPCC has built an inclusive organizational structure to support the regional hemophilia networks and serve the bleeding disorders community. Specifically, the NHPCC facilitates communication among collaborating partners, promotes and supports quality improvement initiatives, and reports on federal grant deliverables.

On a national scale, the NHPCC is working to:

  • Strengthen the capacity of the regional hemophilia networks and the integrated care teams at HTCs across the country
  • Improve access to comprehensive, quality care for underserved populations with hemophilia and related blood or clotting disorders
  • Leverage quality improvement to track national, regional, and patient-level data to assess and improve clinical outcomes
  • Train and support HTC staff with quality improvement and motivational interviewing tools and infrastructure to improve care and patient outcomes

NHPCC activities include:

  • Developing in-person and virtual training programs and educational webinars
  • Conducting surveys and assessments to increase understanding and inform best practices
  • Collecting data and reporting to measure progress
  • Evaluating and assessing programs and services
  • Supporting HTC staff and Regional Leadership
  • Hosting a Resource Repository of tools, templates, and other resources for HTCs

The NHPCC has built upon our collaborations with the regional hemophilia networks and other partners to align strategic efforts and improve access and care for people with hemophilia and related bleeding disorders. Through a variety of initiatives, together we’re making an impact.

View our impact

Our Team

Abby Lowe-Wilson

Abby Lowe-Wilson

Director, NHPCC

alowewilson@athn.org

As Director of the National Hemophilia Program Coordinating Center, Abby is responsible for the strategic development and leadership of the NHPCC, including ongoing collaboration with HRSA and the Regional Hemophilia Networks to identify gaps in services, standardize and improve access to care and share best practices through the creation and implementation of national initiatives. Abby has more than 15 years’ experience in public health working across a range of topic areas, including physical activity promotion, obesity prevention, healthy communities, overdose prevention, and state-level chronic disease prevention, in research, non-profit, and government settings. Her work has focused on building collaborative relationships across organizations and partners, translating emerging and evidence-based interventions, creating opportunities to share best practices and successes, and designing both virtual and in-person peer learning opportunities – all with a focus on equity and systems thinking. She received her MPH from the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Angela Tobin

Angela Tobin

Program Manager, NHPCC

atobin@athn.org

As the Program Manager of the NHPCC, Angela is responsible for working on collaborations with Regional Leadership and HTC staff. Angela has close to 20 years of program management and leadership experience in health advocacy, research, and policy analysis in pediatric and adult care. Her areas of expertise include patient engagement, quality improvement, communications, and systems strengthening in a range of clinical settings. Previously, Angela worked with the American Academy of Pediatrics as a Program Manager and Analyst on medical home implementation and with the Survive & Thrive Global Development Alliance to improve newborn care in more than 80 countries. Most recently, Angela coordinated AllianceChicago’s Practice Transformation initiative for Chicago-based community health centers, and organized community partner involvement with a Long COVID research study based at the University of Illinois Chicago. Angela received her Masters of Social Work from the University of Chicago.

Justine Kaplan, MSPH

Senior Director, Office of Public Health Initiatives

jkaplan@athn.org

As Senior Director, Office of Public Health Initiatives, Justine is responsible for supporting ATHN’s efforts to coordinate federal programs, strengthen partnerships, implement health equity programming, and leverage ATHN’s capabilities to support medically underserved populations. Justine comes to the position with 20 years of experience working in public health, including public health practice work at the city, county, state, and national level, as well as experience training the next generation of public health practitioners as a faculty member. Most of her experience has focused on chronic disease prevention, management, and policy change, with a focus on health equity. She received her MSPH from the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Melissa Creary

Melissa Creary, PhD, MPH

Senior Advisor, Public Health, Policy, and Equity

mcreary@athn.org

As Senior Advisor on Public Health, Policy and Equity Melissa assists ATHN, NHPCC and the Office of Public Health Initiatives to integrate health equity, inclusion, and equality throughout the organizations. With a distinguished background in public health, Melissa spent nine years at the CDC Division of Blood Disorders where she helped create and co-lead the first national program and data collection system for sickle cell disease and thalassemia. In addition to her work at ATHN, she is also an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. She received her PhD in interdisciplinary studies and her MPH in Public Health from Emory University.