The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services strengthened its commitment to monitoring patient safety with the addition of several PQA safety measures to the 2027 Part D Star Ratings (Polypharmacy: Use of Multiple Anticholinergic Medications in Older Adults [POLY-ACH], and Concurrent Use of Opioids and Benzodiazepines [COB]) and Display Page (Polypharmacy: Use of Multiple CNS-Active Medications in Older Adults [POLY-CNS]). A new publication in the Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy provides insights into the quality issues associated with CNS-active medication polypharmacy suggesting that the rate of CNS-active polypharmacy is higher among enrollees of the Medicare Part D Medication Therapy Management (MTM) program compared to the general Medicare Fee-For-Service population. This finding isn’t surprising given the eligibility and targeting criteria for the Part D MTM program.  

Early in the measure life cycle, PQA solicits multi-stakeholder input to evaluate and prioritize health plan measure concepts for future development. To support measure conceptualization in 2025, PQA convened a Measure Concept Advisory Group (MCAG) and conducted a public comment period to inform future measure development, with a particular focus on addressing meaningful gaps in medication use quality while ensuring measure concepts are evidence-based and usable in real-world settings. 

A research partnership between PQA, Merck, and the University of Mississippi focused on three PQA adherence measures to continue to monitor their impact.  

PQA has a new scholarship opportunity for students at PQA member organizations to take free of charge the PQA Medication Use Quality online training program. This program provides 15 hours of education on the fundamentals of quality measurement and helps individuals master today’s quality landscape.