PQA has published more than 80 blogs this year, providing insights and updates on our work to improve medication use quality. As we close out 2023, here’s a look back at the top five blogs of the year.

Building Consensus on Priorities for Improving Oncology Quality Measurement (August 29)
PQA released an important report that we believe is a key step towards improving the quality of care for individuals using oral anticancer medications (OAM).  Working with our staff, 23 national oncology experts and patients have concluded that PQA’s top measurement priority should be a health plan performance measure to assess the degree to which patients take their OAMs as prescribed.  PQA will begin research in 2024 to advance the health plan measure concept for adherence or persistence to OAMs. PQA CEO Micah Cost shared insights on the process and the report.

Diabetes Medications, Weight Loss Indications, and What It Means for Quality Measurement (December 7)

Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how the body produces or uses insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar. In the U.S., 34.2 million adults have diabetes, and 1 in 5 are unaware of their diagnosis. Medication is a mainstay in diabetes treatment, and a wide variety of medication classes are used to manage the disease.  As these new indications drive new patterns of use, it is important to understand how medications used to treat diabetes or weight loss affect quality measures focused on diabetes medication. Read what new diabetes medications mean for measurement.

PQA Sociodemographic Status Risk Adjustment FAQs (April 26)

Health outcomes can be influenced by many factors other than the health care services received, including patient-related factors such as existing clinical conditions and sociodemographic status (SDS), which refers to a variety of socioeconomic (e.g., income, education, occupation) and demographic factors (e.g., age, race, ethnicity, primary language). While risk adjustment for clinical conditions is a common consideration for quality measures in certain situations (particularly outcome measures), consensus on the appropriateness of adjusting quality measures for SDS-related risk factors is still evolving. Learn more about PQA’s approach to SDS Risk Adjustment.

Five for Friday March 10: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality (March 10)

Five for Friday launched in 2021 and over the last two and a half years, we have profiled more than 200 member stories about their work to improve medication use quality, while highlighting PQA’s efforts and our many meetings, events and webinars. In our March 10 issue, we shared that PQA has launched two proof-of-concept pilots to implement four promising blood pressure and hemoglobin A1C pharmacy measure concepts in value-based payment arrangements (VBAs) between payers and pharmacies. Learn more about this important step in building a set of standard pharmacy measures.

Public Comment Sought: Draft Call to Action to Advance MTM Quality Measurement (December 15)

PQA is working with its members and the broader medication therapy management (MTM) community to build consensus on the research, measurement and strategies needed to evolve our national approach to evaluating MTM service quality. Informed by a robust environmental scan and a November 2 national convening event, PQA has drafted a call to action that includes eight elements. Together, they represent a broad range of actions that can advance the quality of MTM services. Learn more about our we’re aiming for the next generation of MTM quality measures.

We look forward to sharing more news and insights with you in 2024. Follow PQA on Twitter and LinkedIn for frequent updates and links to our blogs and other information that can help you in your work to improve medication use quality.