PQA Research Portfolio
Advancing Research in Medication Use Quality
PQA has a portfolio of completed research projects that showcase the wide variety of projects and initiatives resulting from interdisciplinary collaboration with member organizations and quality stakeholders.
Completed Research
- Description: Despite legislative changes enacted by the Affordable Care Act, barriers to medication access still exist in the US. One strategy to improve accessibility is through the use of quality measures for monitoring performance and incentivizing quality. The PQA Research Team has convened a multi-stakeholder roundtable to better define medication access, to describe associated barriers, and to identify priority gaps for future quality performance measurement targeting access to medications.
- Partners: National Pharmaceutical Council, Multi-stakeholder Roundtable
- Research Category: Inform Medication Quality Measure Development and Implementation
- Publications: Access to Care: Development of a Medication Access Framework for Quality Measurement (Download the report's Appendix C)
Validation of an Insulin Adherence/Persistence Methodology
- Description: Given the known complexity of measuring adherence/persistence to injectable treatments and the lack of a quality measure that assesses adherence/persistence to insulin, PQA convened a multi-stakeholder roundtable to identify potential methodologies that PQA further validated for consideration within a quality performance measure.
- Partners: Multi-stakeholder Roundtable
- Research Category: Inform Medication Quality Measure Development and Implementation
The Impact of PQA Adherence Measures on Health Outcomes
- Description: PQA medication adherence measures for hypertension (Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) antagonists), cholesterol (statins), and diabetes medications (excluding insulin) are used to evaluate health plan performance in the Medicare Five-Star Quality Rating System. Limited evidence exists regarding the impact of medication adherence on economic outcomes. Researchers at PQA, the University of Arizona, and Merck & Co. investigated the relationship between PQA’s three adherence metrics on healthcare utilization and expenditures.
- Partners: University of Arizona, Merck & Co.
- Research Category: Demonstrate the Effectiveness of PQA’s Measures
Impact of the Appointment-based Model on Health Outcomes
- Description: The ABM is a pharmacy operations model that utilizes medication synchronization and an appointment with the pharmacist for a medication review. ABMs reduce the number of trips to a pharmacy, improve medication adherence and patient satisfaction. PQA conducted a study to investigate the impact of the ABM of medication synchronization on medical outcomes (e.g., adherence, associated cost) of patients with targeted chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes).
- Partners: Humana, Publix, and Winn-Dixie
- Research Category: Promote Best Practices in Medication Use Quality
Improving Adult Immunization Rates & EQuIPP
- Description: Adult vaccination coverage rates remain well below Healthy People 2020 targets. Improving vaccination rates requires successful information exchange and care coordination between the multiple critical players: the physician, the pharmacist, and the patient. This study investigated whether a pharmacist-led intervention could improve vaccination rates for pneumonia and influenza among individuals enrolled in Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans with Humana, Inc.
- Partners: Rite Aid, Humana, Pharmacy Quality Solutions, CECity
- Research Category: Promote Best Practices in Medication Use Quality
Immunization Services Model for Adult Rate Improvement
- Description: This study investigated the impact of telephonic immunization prompts during regular automated outbound communiqués on vaccination rate improvement among adult patients across community pharmacies in the Northeastern US.
- Partners: Scientific Technologies Corporation, Voiceport, Kinney Drugs, Price Chopper, Tops Market
- Research Category: Promote Best Practices in Medication Use Quality
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