Anika A. Vartan

Anika Vartan has more than 20 years of experience designing, implementing, and evaluating public health and international development programs to improve access to—and quality of—health care, and increase community participation in social, economic, and political life. Vartan’s expertise is in mixed-methods and qualitative research, project management, health policy analysis, capacity building, adult education and technical assistance, organizational assessment and development, and community-driven development. She has supported the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Drug Administration (FDA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Department of State (DOS) clients.

At Abt, Vartan is the Lead Evaluator of AHRQ’s TAKEheart Initiative to disseminate and implement patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) evidence to increase patient participation in Cardiac Rehabilitation at more than 100 hospitals and cardiac rehab programs. This mixed-methods evaluation includes participant surveys, observations, interviews, and focus groups. She recently completed an evaluation for The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)/ACL, where she led a team of data analysts and evaluators to conduct a grantee publications analysis meta-analysis of  past evaluations, and analysis of NIDILRR’s social media presence, including a Twitter study. This evaluation resulted in findings and recommendations that will strengthen future evaluations and the development and implementation of NIDILRR Digital Strategy for increased reach to stakeholders.

Before joining Abt, Vartan, evaluated CMS-funded quality improvement work at nursing homes and Indian Health Service (IHS) hospitals and clinics; managed a qualitative evaluation of the Medicare Intravenous Immune Globulin (IVIG) Access Demonstration by the CMS Innovation Center; managed project start-up and evaluation of six business process assessments for FDA; and designed an organizational assessment tool and developed sustainability profiles of state-based healthcare marketplaces to inform CMS on sustainability-related risks.

Before moving to the domestic health market, Vartan designed and managed program evaluations and technical assistance for a $180 million USAID-funded international development portfolio.

Expertise:

• Program Evaluation
• Training and Technical Assistance
• Community Programs and Interventions
• Quantitative/Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis

Key Projects:

• TAKEheart: Training for Cardiac Rehabilitation Use
• The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Evaluation
• Technical Assistance to HRSA’s Hemoglobinopathies Coordinating Center