Five for Friday, October 1: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality

The PQA Leadership Summit is just six weeks away! You don't want to miss this dynamic, hands-on meeting that will shape PQA's strategic plan for the next four years. Our first in-person meeting in two years, this is a prime opportunity to reconnect with your fellow quality leaders and build new relationships. 

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Q&A with PQA Chief Engagement Officer Richard Schmitz

PQA’s talented staff is dedicated to improving medication safety, adherence and appropriate use. As experts in measure development, research, education and convening, they lead the implementation of PQA’s quality initiatives support better medication use and high-quality care. This blog is one in a series profiling PQA's staff.

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PQA-Supported Research Examines Cost Barriers to Medication Access and Adherence

The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) developed the “Medication Access Framework for Quality Measurement”  to address the social determinants of health (SDOH) that hinder patient medication access and contribute to poor health outcomes. Released in March 2019, the framework identifies seven key areas patients encounter while accessing medications and the structural, financial and personal barriers patients face within each. Named the Medication Access Patient Journey (MAPJ), those seven areas are:

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PQA Accepting Applications for Student and Post-Graduate Programs for 2022-2023

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The Business Case: Paying to Addressing Social Determinants of Health

PQA hosted a November 2019 national forum, Caring for the Whole Patient, to showcase emerging best practices to address the social determinants of health (SDOH) and the role of pharmacists. Building on the forum and PQA’s other work, PQA is developing an SDOH Resource Guide and accepting contributions for the first edition through September 30. This is the final part of a three-part blog series revisiting the 2019 forum.

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Five for Friday, September 17: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality

PQA has developed a new, 3-hour continuing education (CE) course, “Measuring Quality to Improve HIV Medication Use.” The course can be taken independently or as part of PQA’s 15-hour Medication Use Quality online CE and certificate program. 

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Caring for the Whole Patient: Diverse Care Settings

PQA hosted a November 2019 national forum, Caring for the Whole Patient, to showcase emerging best practices to address the social determinants of health (SDOH) and the role of pharmacists. Building on the forum and PQA’s other work, PQA is developing an SDOH Resource Guide and accepting contributions for the first edition through September 30. This is the second of a three-part blog series revisiting the 2019 forum.

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Addressing Social Determinants of Health in Different Populations

PQA hosted a November 2019 national forum, Caring for the Whole Patient, to showcase emerging best practices to address the social determinants of health (SDOH) and the role of pharmacists. Building on the forum and PQA’s other work, PQA is developing an SDOH Resource Guide and accepting contributions for the first edition through September 30. This is the first of a three-part blog series revisiting the 2019 forum.

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Q&A with PQA Chief Operating Officer Jackie Green

PQA’s talented staff is dedicated to improving medication safety, adherence and appropriate use. As experts in measure development, research, education and convening, they lead the implementation of PQA’s quality initiatives support better medication use and high-quality care. This blog is one in a series profiling PQA's staff. 

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Measuring Quality to Improve HIV Medication Use: A New Continuing Education Course

Addressing a Quality Improvement Need  

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Five For Friday, September 3: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality

Research is a strategic growth priority for PQA. It has great potential to enhance and support quality improvement initiatives.

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The Importance of SDOH and Pharmacist Intervention

PQA is investigating the impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) on pharmacy and medication access by using a multi-stakeholder perspective to analyze current gaps in knowledge and interventions that currently exist in pharmacy settings.

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Medication Adherence Measures Help Medicare Beneficiaries Avoid Up to $46.6 Billion in Health Care Costs

What is the impact of the three medication adherence measures used in the Medicare Part D Star Ratings program?

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Quality Forum Review: Prioritizing Pharmacy Measure Concepts for Value-Based Agreements

The PQA Quality Forum Webinar is a recurring series on healthcare quality topics which focus on medication use and medication services. The quality forum creates an opportunity for education and engagement with PQA members and quality-focused healthcare professionals.

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Five For Friday, August 20: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality

This fall and into 2022, there are numerous opportunities for PQA members to participate in our measure development process. As a consensus-based and member-driven organization, this is the moment for you and your organization to inform and influence decisions on measures across the development and stewardship continuum. Read more about the opportunities below.

This week, we are highlighting the importance of technology in team-based care and two ways pharmacists are partnering with other providers and system stakeholders to improve care and outcomes. If you have work you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email.

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Participate in PQA's Measure Development Process

This fall and into 2022, there are numerous opportunities for PQA members to participate in our measure development process. As a consensus-based and member-driven organization, this is the moment for you and your organization to inform and influence decisions on measures across the development and stewardship continuum. Here's what's coming up soon. Information on each of these will be emailed to members as we get closer to the opportunity.

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Five For Friday, August 6: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality

A 2021 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report for PQA’s three adherence measures showed the economic benefits of medication adherence in Medicare Part D, with an estimated $27-$46.6 billion health care costs avoided over a five-year period.

We'll share analysis of this report soon, but you can access it below and see the letter PQA CEO Micah Cost sent to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, noting PQA's work to improve adherence and address disparities.

This week, we are sharing the ways our members are reducing vaccine disparities, investing in the future of pharmacist-provided care and evaluating comprehensive medication management in value-based care models. If you have work you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email



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The Importance of Quality Measures and How Your Pharmacy Can Be More Engaged

This guest blog is one in a series by sponsors of the 2021 PQA Annual Meeting on emerging trends in medication use quality. The views shared in this series are those of the author and do not reflect any PQA positions.

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Five For Friday, July 23: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality

PQA is developing standard pharmacy performance measures that would be appropriate for pharmacy accountability, once assessed against standard measure criteria and endorsed by PQA members. We have four measure concepts in development and one has already moved to testing.

We're also wrapping up a project with the Community Pharmacy Foundation (CPF) to build consensus on additional metrics that will promote sustained innovation in community pharmacy services. See the Pharmacy Today article below and attend our August 5 Quality Forum for insights from the CPF project. 

This week, we are sharing the ways our members continue to lead the pandemic fight, while addressing disparities and advancing team-based care. If you have work you'd like for us to spotlight, send us an email. We want to hear from you, and we want to share more stories like the ones below.



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PQA Welcomes Five New Members

PQA is a non-profit organization with 250 diverse members across healthcare. Our members include community and specialty pharmacy organizations, pharmacists and other healthcare providers, pharmacies, health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, life sciences, technology vendors, government agencies, health information technology partners, researchers, accrediting organizations and academia.

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