Five For Friday, May 14: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality
Welcome to Five For Friday. The 2021 PQA Annual Meeting took place this week and it was a resounding success!
Over three days, hundreds of PQA members gathered to learn, network and engage. The depth and quality of the presentations and the insights shared through panel discussions and Q&A sessions was fantastic -- and that's thanks to you, our PQA members.
From COVID to SDOH and from value-based care to expanding roles for pharmacist-provided care, you demonstrated the bright future for medication use quality that lies ahead.
The fun continues on Monday with our Research Symposium. Read more about that below, along with three articles recapping insights from this year's meeting. If you missed any part of the meeting or want to revisit sessions, you can access all meeting content online for 60 days.
-- Loren Kirk, PQA Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships
Aligning Patient-Centered Goals to Improve Quality of Care, Address Health Inequities
To address disparities, listen to patients, build trust and prioritize the outcomes they value. That was a key message from our session on Equity in Medication Use Quality. Read about perspectives from patient Deen Allen and PQA members Lilly and SCAN Health Plan in this coverage by AJMC.
Getting Creative to Overcome Barriers to Care
Pharmacists were instrumental in ensuring patients had access to medications during the height of the COVID pandemic and they were increasingly engaged to provide services that support high performance on quality measures, including HEDIS measures. Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Enhanced Medication Services shared insights and experience at the PQA Annual Meeting. Read more from Pharmacy Times.
Understanding COVID's Impact on Quality Measurement
Because the CMS issued temporary waivers and new rules to give health plans flexibility early in the COVID pandemic, these changes will impact the 2022 and 2023 Part D and Part C star ratings. In addition to these changes, there is some good news: some impacts of the pandemic that proved to be less alarming than originally believed. Read more about this panel from Pharmacy Times, which included Chris Powers of PQA member Cigna.
Research Symposium Explores Access and SDOH
PQA is hosting a Research Symposium on Monday, May 17. Attendance is free for anyone registered to attend the Annual Meeting. PQA will provide an overview of our work in research and four PQA-supported research teams will present their projects to address issues medication access and SDOH.
Your Next Engagement Opportunities
Network, Learn and Collaborate with PQA
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Attend the PQA Research Symposium, May 17. Attendance is free for all Annual Meeting registrants. There are four research presentations and live audience Q&A on medication access and SDOH from 11:00-12:30 p.m. ET. Also, you can visit with 20 poster presenters from 12:30-1:30 p.m. ET.
- PQA's 2nd Quarter 2021 Stakeholder Advisory Meeting is June 2, 1-2 pm ET. Held quarterly, these staff-hosted meetings share current and relevant measure development and maintenance updates with members. Visit the Member Resources Library to register for this members-only event.
- PQA's next Quality Forum Webinar is June 10, 1-2 pm ET. Learn about "The Voice of the Patient in Medication Therapy Management." A panel will share real-world experience so attendees can consider how to evaluate the patient experience in MTM.