Winner
Abbott's Small Steps to Change programme in collaboration with NHS rheumatologists to implement Treat to Target
Summary of work
The Treat to Target principles in rheumatoid arthritis include early referral, regular assessment and early diagnosis to make disease remission a realistic target for patients.
Evidence shows that earlier treatment improves patient outcomes. However, access to biologics, if appropriate, is often delayed as they are second‐line treatment and patients are often not reviewed regularly enough or treated to a target, which can make treatment decisions subjective.
Abbott UK rolled‐out Treat to Target nationally to improve the management of patients, and improve the access to biologics for patients who require this treatment. Partnership with the most influential UK KOLs (including the 2011 European Rheumatology Professional Body (EULAR) chair) led to the inclusion of Treat to Target in the latest SIGN guidance and publication of a consensus on standardising assessment using DAS28 in a peer‐reviewed journal.
Treat to Target was delivered through a revolutionary programme, Small Steps to Change (SSTC), allowing rheumatologists to break change into small steps, through low-/no-cost solutions delivering target‐driven regimens. SSTC changed routine practice in over 40 units with huge improvements in referral rates (10.76 to two weeks), assessment completion rates (16.7 per cent to 78.9‐100 per cent) and fewer patients with high disease activity at referral (40 per cent vs 25 per cent).
Executive summary as submitted
Judges’ comments
"Abbott looked at what had been done in cardiovascular health and diabetes to treat more people to goal and found a low cost way of applying these principles in rheumatology. There was a high level of KOL engagement through genuinely interesting work that saw 17 per cent more patients were treated appropriately."
