PQA offers a competitive Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiential (APPE) Rotation for pharmacy students, which provides experiential learning opportunities in non-profit association management, medication use quality education, communications, research and performance measurement. PQA works with individual students to align their rotation experience with desired career goals and interests. Applications for the 2024-25 year are now being accepted. You can apply here. Visit our Student Programs page for more information. 

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.

Diverse Voices in Quality is a PQA blog series that showcases the successful career paths and experiences of medication use quality professionals from diverse groups at PQA member organizations. A part of PQA’s Diverse Quality Leaders Program, this series celebrates the achievements of our members who reflect our nation’s diversity and provides everyone with insights and inspiration for becoming a leader in quality.

This has been an exciting year for PQA! We continue to play a central role in driving meaningful improvements and positive changes related to medication safety, adherence and appropriate use.

The 2023 PQA Annual Report documents our progress towards Blueprint PQA 2025. It is a collection of accomplishments from September 2022 to August 2023 and captures the efforts of our members and staff over the past 12 months. There are still numerous opportunities to be involved with PQA and impact quality medication use in 2023. Learn more about these opportunities and accomplishments below..

We also highlight our members' perspectives on diversity and accessibility in clinical trials, improving adherence, and adherence to multiple sclerosis medications. If you have news you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email! 

PQA has released the entire Medication Use Quality continuing education program and Medication Use Quality Certificate, which is a fully updated version of the program that was initially released in 2020.

The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) seeks interested pharmacy and payer partners to participate in proof-of-concept pilots to implement and test high priority immunization pharmacy measure concepts.

Last week, PQA released an important report, Recommendations to Improve the Quality of Oral Anticancer Medication Use, which we believe is a key step towards improving the quality of care of individuals using oral anticancer medications (OAM).

The uniqueness of OAMs, including complex treatment regimens, variable dosing schedules, and temporary and intentional discontinuation of therapy, present distinct challenges to accurately defining and measuring adherence and persistence. PQA will use our research and measurement expertise to explore OAM adherence or persistence methodologies to inform potential development of a health plan measure. Learn more about this report below.

We also highlight our members' perspectives on research partnerships, access to CGM services, and supporting education and adherence. If you have news you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email! 

At PQA, you may have noticed that we appreciate sports analogies. Earlier this summer, PQA CEO Micah Cost discussed what baseball and quality measures have in common. In keeping with the baseball theme, PQA is entering the top of the 7^th for 2023, and there is still plenty of time for members to get in the game.

We are excited to announce that registration has opened for the 2023 PQA Leadership Summit and PQA Convenes: Advancing Medication Therapy Management Quality Measurement.

This year’s summit will focus on measure modernization and PQA’s role in the national effort to advance and align measures across providers and value-based programs. This PQA Convenes event is part of a national initiative to advance medication therapy management (MTM) quality measurement and other strategies to evaluate MTM services. Learn more about these events below.

We also highlight our members' perspectives on team-based care, value-based arrangements and pharmacists' role as providers. If you have news you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email! 

The PQA Quality Forum Webinar is a regular, recurring series on healthcare quality topics with a focus on medication use and medication services. It is a forum for educating and engaging with PQA members and quality-focused healthcare professionals.

The PQA Postdoctoral Executive Fellowship helps produce the next generation of leaders in health care quality through a full-time, 12-month program. Executive Fellows collaborate with PQA staff, members and other stakeholders on a variety of initiatives to improve medication use quality. During the fellowship, individuals will expand their skills and experience in project management, quality measure design and implementation, non-profit administration and association management, and health care quality research. 

PQA's webinars have a new look! Throughout the year, PQA provides various education opportunities to promote the use and impact of PQA measures and advance the quality of medication use. With a focus on new developments and best practices, our goal is to help quality-focused healthcare professionals in a variety of practice settings expand their knowledge and skills. PQA hosts four different webinar series to provide targeted education on a variety of topics. Each of our four webinars has a distinct purpose, and we are excited to showcase the new logo for each series. Below you'll find information on each series and how you can take advantage to advance your knowledge and expertise. 

PQA has several exciting opportunities for members to engage in our work in the coming months.

Chris Kotschevar and I will be in San Diego next week for the NACDS Total Store Expo and would love to connect with our members there. Learn more about our commitment to standardized pharmacy measures below and how you can connect with us next week!

We also highlight our members' perspectives on immunizations, community healthcare providers and patient experience. If you have news you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email! 

Medication therapy management (MTM) is an important tool to help patients get the best results from the medications they’re taking.

However, as our health care system shifts toward patient-centered and value-based care models, there is a need to advance how we evaluate the quality of MTM services. This can support the broader implementation of standardized best practices and payment that rewards positive outcomes.

PQA has launched a national initiative to advance MTM quality measurement. A key part of this effort is a November 2 PQA Convenes event will will host. Learn more below.

We also highlight our members' perspectives on diabetes care, achieving the quintuple aim and transforming pharmacy care. If you have news you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email! 

PQA has launched the PQA Quality Innovation and Research Initiative to Advance Medication Therapy Management Quality Measurement – a national initiative to advance medication therapy management (MTM) quality measurement and other strategies to evaluate MTM services.

Creating a quality improvement plan can seem daunting to many, but it is vital for value-based care and improved patient quality. PQA’s Medication Use Quality continuing education program course, "Quality Improvement Foundation," was designed to provide realistic approaches to implementing a quality improvement plan in a variety of settings.