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PRESS RELEASE PQA Declares Commitment to Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic Statement Issued as a Partner of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative Alexandria, Va. (April 30, 2019) – The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) has declared its commitment to addressing the U.S. opioid crisis in a statement issued today as a partner of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic. PQA joins more than 100 organizations that have issued statements describing current work and future goals to counter the opioid epidemic. “The United States faces an opioid crisis that is one of the most critical public health challenges of our time,” said Laura Cranston, RPh, PQA Chief Executive Officer. “As a leading developer of consensus-based quality measures for medication safety, adherence, and appropriate use, PQA is providing important and timely tools to address the opioid epidemic. We are a committed partner of the National Academy of Medicine and it’s effort to develop and advance collective solutions to address the opioid crisis.” PQA is an active participant in the collaborative’s work. Lisa Hines, PharmD, PQA’s Vice President of Performance Measurement and Operations, is a member of two collaborative workgroups: “Prescribing Guidelines and Evidence Standards” and “Research, Data, and Metrics.” PQA has developed an Opioid Core Measure set, which includes four opioid measures to evaluate patients with prescriptions for opioids at high-dosage, from multiple prescribers and pharmacies, or in combination with benzodiazepines. PQA currently is developing three new measures, aligned with the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, to address initial opioid prescribing found to increase risk for chronic opioid use and opioid use disorder. __________________ Pharmacy Quality Alliance: PQAalliance.org National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic: nam.edu/OpioidCollaborative ### Contact: Richard Schmitz, PQA Senior Director of Communications, [email protected] or 703-347-7931 |