PQA Receives the APhA Foundation Pinnacle Award:
Board, Staff and Active PQA Members Join the Recognition Award Ceremony
PQA received the 13th Annual Pinnacle Award in the nonprofit organization category on June 28th at an even hosted by the American Pharmacists Association Foundation and supported by Pfizer, Inc.
The Pinnacle Awards recognize contributions to healthcare quality through the medication use process, and was established in 1998. These awards recognize an individual, a group of individuals and a healthcare organization for significant contributions and/or exemplary leadership in the improvement of quality in the medication use process and the delivery of pharmaceutical care.
Performance in medication use is an issue that cuts across disciplines including physicians, nurses and pharmacists.....but the most important stakeholder in this dialogue is the patient. A systematic approach using modern quality improvement science can help us optimize our performance in medication use.
In a short video presentation prepared for the recognition ceremony, Dr. Mark McClellan, former administrator of CMS, who currently serves as Director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform and Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, shared that "Forming the PQA was a very important initiative for CMS, coming at a time of unprecedented changes for pharmacy with the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. This was a new organization, it had no independent funding and it was truly a ‘start from scratch initiative’......however, the leadership from within a broad group of stakeholders envisioned a better future for pharmacy, and a better future for the healthcare system, one based on quality, efficiency and value. PQA has embraced the mission and taken some very important steps through the development and implementation of standardized quality performance measures surrounding appropriate medication use."
Accepting the award was Laura Cranston, PQA’s Executive Director. On hand to celebrate the Pinnacle Award were PQA Board Members, Judith Cahill, Executive Director of AMCP and Chair of PQA, Thomas Menighan, Executive Vice President and CEO of APhA, and Vice Chair of PQA, Rebecca Snead, Executive Director of the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, and Treasurer of PQA, and Eleanor Perfetto, Senior Director, Reimbursement and Regulatory Affairs, Federal Government Relations for Pfizer and PQA Board member along with several representatives from PQA’s membership.
Mark Your Calendars: Warholak and Hines to Discuss Severe Drug-Drug Interactions for September PQA Lecture Series
Please mark your calendars for the next Quality Forum Lecture Series which will take place on September 9th, 2010. The topic will be "Preventing Drug Interactions for Quality Improvement" and the presenters will be Terri L. Warholak, PhD, RPh, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, College of Pharmacy and Lisa Hines, Pharm.D, Clinical Research Pharmacist Center for Health Outcomes & PharmacoEconomic Research, both with the University of Arizona. This very timely presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. The PowerPoint presentation will be sent on September 8th to those who register for the lecture.
This session will provide an overview of the PQA drug-drug interaction measure. Methodology and rationale for selecting the drug interactions will be described, including a brief discussion of the potential clinical consequences and supporting evidence. Additional discussion will surround methods to improve health care provider performance through integration of educational, systems-based, and quality improvement strategies.
Please join us on Thursday, September 9th from 1 PM to 2 PM EDT. Early registration is highly recommended for this complimentary program. Please RSVP via email to Karen Peterson at kpeterson@PQAalliance.org
Workgroup Schedule of Calls
Click here for the latest PQA Workgroup Schedule of Calls.
PQA Announces the Release of the EPIQ Program: a complimentary, turn-key quality improvement program for pharmacists
Educating Pharmacy Students and Pharmacists to Improve Quality (EPIQ) is a new quality improvement educational resource to be used by pharmacy faculty and others to educate pharmacy students, pharmacists, and other stakeholders about measuring, reporting, and improving quality in pharmacy practice. This program was developed by the University of Arizona through a grant provided by the PQA. It is available on a CD ROM. For more information about this program, click here.
PQA Quality Forum Lecture Series Past Presentations
The Mission of the PQA is to:
Improve the quality of medication use across health care settings through a collaborative process in which key stakeholders agree on a strategy for measuring and reporting performance information related to medications.
Membership in the PQA
Membership applications for the PQA are available on this website. A dues structure for membership is found on page two of the membership application. When an organization's membership dues are received, this will entitle an organization to name up to four individuals to participate in the three workgroups within the PQA. Click here to download the PQA membership application.
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