As a member driven organization, people are what makes PQA great and effective in building consensus to advance medication use quality. PQA is a rare association where different and often competing sectors work together towards a common goal -- improving patient care and outcomes.

We recently launched a new blog series to profile our member leaders and staff, whose commitment and expertise drive PQA's success. You can read more about the series below.

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”

That sage wisdom imparted by John Muir, the renowned 19th century mountaineer, naturalist and father of the National Parks is a perfect statement for reflecting on the future for PQA.

1. Participate in the Town Hall Meeting with Micah Cost on May 11. You’ll hear insights on his first 100 days leading PQA and his vision for the future. For part of the event, he’ll be joined by former CMS Administrator Mark McClellan and former CMS Senior Advisory Larry Kocot.
   
   
2. Gain insights on Equity in Medication Use Quality with our general session that will explore the barriers that lead to unfair and avoidable differences in health outcomes and how can we remove them. We’ll hear from a patient, Lilly’s Director of Global Health Literacy and PQA Board member Sharon Jhawar.
   
   
3. Hear about COVID-19’s Impact on Quality with a general session that will share insights on what happened in the market and which changes in care could positively or negatively impact quality in the future.
   
   
4. Hear about the importance of medication quality in patient-centered, team-based care and the role of pharmacists. Our Value-Based Care general session will discuss real-world examples that are shaping the future of care.
   
   
5. Earn 6.0 contact hours of continuing pharmacy education credit. CE is available for all 12 Focused Sessions, and you can attend sessions for credit live or on-demand through June 11.
   
   
6. Sign up for PQA’s Medication Use Quality continuing education and certificate program this month and receive a $50 discount on top of the member rate, as an Annual Meeting attendee. PQA members will receive 15 hours of advanced training for just $175. The code will be shared live with all meeting attendees.
   
   
7. Attend four Innovation Theaters for creative business solutions from four leading vendors: Aspen RxHealth, EnlivenHealth, OutcomesMTM, and Tabula Rasa Healthcare.
   
   
8. Attend a networking reception with PQA Board members and fellow meeting attendees, Wednesday, May 12, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
   
   
9. Relax, do something fun and engage with other PQA members. We have a trivia hour on May 11 at 4:00 p.m. ET and a special musical guest on May 12 at 3:10 p.m. ET.
   
   
10. Attend the Research Symposium on Monday, May 17, to learn about PQA’s work in medication access and SDOH and to see presentations on four PQA-funded projects.

Also, don't forget to visit with our meeting sponsors! During the meeting, you can schedule an appointment or meet with them instantly through convenient Zoom rooms. Their support makes the PQA Annual Meeting possible and together they are among our nation's leaders in improving medication use quality.

PQA is committed to patient-centered principles, including health equity, in our work to improve medication safety, adherence and appropriate use.

Our commitment is on display next Wednesday, May 12, in our Annual Meeting general session on “Equity in Medication Use Quality.” We will hear directly from Deen Allen, an African American man and multiple sclerosis patient on the challenges he faced to receiving appropriate diagnosis and medication therapies.

PQA is investigating the barriers and facilitators of prescription turnaround time in the specialty pharmacy setting.

It’s an important issue because prompt treatment initiation is essential for optimal management of complex conditions. Specialty pharmacy prescription turnaround time commonly refers to the time between a specialty pharmacy receiving a new prescription and that prescription being ready for pick-up or scheduled for delivery. Having a prescription ready for pick-up or scheduled for delivery is a key element to treatment initiation, and recent studies have demonstrated a link between rapid treatment initiation and improved outcomes in some patient populations, such as in persons living with HIV.

PQA’s education programs are designed to expand knowledge and develop medication use quality skills. Our Medication Use Quality CE program, our Annual Meeting and the monthly Quality Forum Webinar series are just three of the ways we showcase best practices and novel approaches to improving medication safety, adherence and appropriate use.

Pharmacists and other health care professionals from across our care system – and in a wide range of settings – play important roles in medication use and medication services.

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.

New organizations regularly join PQA throughout the year. This blog recognizes seven organizations that have joined PQA since November:

It’s my pleasure to personally invite you to join us at the 2021 PQA Annual Meeting, which will take place online, May 11-13. While we are all looking forward to the time when we can meet together face-to-face, we are excited to continue to host this important meeting virtually and provide you with high-quality educational programs and events which meet your needs.

Our team is hard at work putting the final touches on the Annual Meeting program. PQA’s collaborative approach to quality makes its meetings a preferred destination for quality improvement professionals. The educational programs were informed by our members and will bring together thought leaders for critical conversations on issues which are top of mind for you.  

As we celebrate Black History Month, I am reminded of one experience that had a profound impact on my view of health access and the pharmacist’s role in addressing medication use quality through team-based care.

In December 2016, I had an opportunity to travel to Los Angeles to spend a few days learning from barber Eric Muhammed, Dr. Ronald Victor, MD, and the healthcare team at Cedars-Sinai. Eric, Ron, several pharmacists, and their research team were working together to implement a barbershop hypertension project to address undiagnosed or sub-optimally treated hypertension in African American men. 

Participating barbers received training on how to initiate the conversation and screen for high blood pressure. If the individual had undiagnosed or sub-optimally treated hypertension, the barber would then contact the pharmacist and connect them with the patient. The pharmacist performed an assessment, such as a comprehensive medication review, and managed the individual’s hypertension. 

The prespecified primary outcome was systolic blood pressure. Secondary outcomes included diastolic pressure, rates of meeting blood-pressure goals, numbers of antihypertensive drugs, adverse drug reactions, self-rated health, and patient engagement according to a validated instrument. The results were not only statistically significant, but also applicable to practice improvement.  

You might have read about this project, but I wanted to share some observations through our lens of medication use quality. Here are a few aspects of this project that make it unique and impactful:  

Micah Cost, PharmD, MS, is PQA's CEO. Today begins his third week leading the organization. This blog features the message he shared with PQA members on February 1, his first day in charge. Follow Cost and PQA on Twitter for more insights on the organization's daily work to improve medication use quality.

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.

PQA held an October 15, 2020, webinar on Pharmacist-conducted Immunization Assessment and Documentation.

As today marks my final day at PQA in the role of CEO, I have taken some time to reflect on the past 15 years, and the opportunity that was presented to me in 2006 to build and lead a multi-stakeholder organization, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance. We set out to build a sustainable model for advancing the safe and appropriate use of medications through the development of meaningful and actionable quality measures that all stakeholders would have an opportunity to shape through a consensus-based process.

The path to build PQA was challenging, rewarding, gratifying, and at times humbling. I recognize those who championed its formation including Dr. Mark McClellan, the former administrator of CMS, Larry Kocot, the Senior Advisor to the Administrator of CMS, and other major leaders across healthcare sectors that put their time and energy into the formative years of PQA and ensured its successful launch. The founding members, including AHIP, NCPA, NACDS, AMCP, and AHRQ were among the first entities to help shape the mission and vision of the organization and I am truly grateful for their support.

PQA’s Strategic Plan for 2021 is focused on three, timely initiatives for medication use quality: the social determinants of health, innovative pathways for measure development, and immunization services.

PQA’s Strategic Plans historically have covered three-year periods. Our current plan will reach its successful conclusion at the end of 2020. As we contemplated PQA’s next plan, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, we recognized the value of creating a one-year Strategic Plan “burst” that is relevant for this unique and challenging time – and the needs of our 250 multi-stakeholder members.

Anna Legreid Dopp, Senior Director of Clinical Guidelines and Quality Improvement at ASHP, spoke at PQA’s Data and Interoperability Advisory Group (DIAG) meeting on June 22. She discussed Electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs) and how we can use them to start thinking about pharmacy measures. ASHP is the organization that represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory settings.

This blog provides an overview of Dopp’s presentation. You can view a recording of the DIAG meeting and read more about it in a PQA blog, which outlines PQA’s work to address data infrastructure, standards and interoperability.

Amber Baybayan, a Senior Clinical Services Associate at OutcomesMTM, spoke at PQA’s Data and Interoperability Advisory Group (DIAG) meeting on June 22. She discussed data integration in medication therapy management.

This blog provides an overview of Baybayan’s presentation. You can view a recording of the DIAG meeting and read more about it in a PQA blog, which outlines PQA’s work to address data infrastructure, standards and interoperability.

Shelly Spiro, Executive Director at Pharmacy HIT Collaborative, spoke at PQA’s Data and Interoperability Advisory Group (DIAG) meeting on June 22. She discussed the importance of data standards for collecting and sharing information about pharmacist-provided patient care and services.

This blog provides an overview of Spirio’s presentation. You can view a recording of the DIAG meeting and read more about it in a PQA blog, which outlines PQA’s work to address data infrastructure, standards and interoperability.

Josh Howland, Vice President of Clinical Strategy at PioneerRX, provided a presentation on the Pharmacist eCare Plan (Plan) at PQA’s Data and Interoperability Advisory Group (DIAG) meeting on June 22.

This blog provides an overview of Howland’s presentation. You can view a recording of the DIAG meeting and read more about it in a PQA blog, which outlines PQA’s work to address data infrastructure, standards and interoperability.