Five for Friday January 31: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality
PQA has published a new report that summarizes the conversations from PQA Convenes: Quality Medication Use in Rare Disease, held on November 7, which brought together health care quality experts, rare disease leaders and individuals with lived experience to discuss what constitutes high-quality rare disease medication use.
This report compiles perspectives shared over four discussion panels. Several factors impacting quality were commonly mentioned across all panels with each panel identifying several opportunities for progress. Learn more about the report below.
We also highlight our members' perspectives on the pharmacists' patient care process, the Southern California wildfire response, and the future of community pharmacy. If you have news you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email!
-- Richard Schmitz, Chief Engagement Officer

The Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process (PPCP) is the foundation for the essential care that pharmacists provide to patients daily. Fifteen national pharmacy organizations have collaborated through the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) to revise the 2014 PPCP to reflect contemporary pharmacy practice today and into the future. These organizations are now seeking feedback on the revised draft PPCP from pharmacists across the profession to ensure that it is reflective of diverse pharmacy practice settings and the care being delivered. PQA invites member organizations to contribute feedback by accessing the draft revised PPCP and a feedback survey here. The public comment period will be open until Friday, February 28, 5:00 p.m. PT.
Responding to the Southern California Wildfires
The entire health care community has responded to support Southern California in the wake of the devastating wildfires. PQA members from all industries are working to provide care, raise money and support additional needed services. The efforts of CVS, Kroger, Walgreens and Walmart are featured in a recent Drug Store News article. Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente have also shared updates on their efforts.
Empowering the Future of Pharmacy
The 2025 National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Regional Chain Conference took place this month with a focus on current and future issues facing the industry. Attendees explored topics including: strong retail categories; artificial intelligence (AI); caregiver issues; pharmacy care services; value-based care; pharmacy reimbursement; pharmaceutical trends; Food is Medicine; employment and labor law; the outlook for politics and public policy; and more. Read more in Chain Drug Review.

Ensuring the quality of medication use is critically important for rare disease patients, payers, clinicians, specialty pharmacies and everyone with a role in the care process. Like all patients, individuals with rare disease want medications that are accessible, safe, effective and help them achieve the best outcomes possible.
The newly released report, PQA Convenes: Quality Medication Use in Rare Disease: A Report on Stakeholder Perspectives on What Constitutes Quality, shares insights on what constitutes quality in rare disease medication use and how to improve it from the perspectives of:
- patients, caregivers and patient advocates
- specialty pharmacies and providers
- biopharmaceutical industry organizations, and
- public and private payers
More details are in our recent blog, and a February 13 webinar will review the report's highlights. Thank you to the more than 100 individuals who attended this PQA Convenes event, all of our speakers and moderators, and the organizations whose generous support made the event and report possible: Pfizer, Novo Nordisk and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. For questions about this report, email PQA at [email protected].
Your Next Engagement Opportunities
Network, Learn and Collaborate with PQA
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Join us for PQA's next Quality Forum Webinar on February 13, 2025, 1-2 pm ET. PQA's Richard Schmitz and Jocelyn Cooper from the Black Women's Health Imperative will focus on addressing inequities in care and improving quality in rare disease. Register today!
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PQA's 1st Quarter 2026 Stakeholder Advisory Meeting is March 12, 1-2 pm ET. PQA SAMs are members-only events that are held quarterly to share current and relevant measure development and maintenance updates. The registration link is in the Member Resources Library.
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2025 PQA Annual Meeting, takes place May 19-21, at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street in Tampa, Fla. PQA’s collaborative approach makes its meetings a preferred destination for quality improvement professionals. To learn more about sponsorship, email [email protected].
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