Five for Friday February 28: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality
PQA is now accepting self-nominations for the Diversity in Quality Scholarship. The program provides scholarships for health care professional students to attend the 2025 PQA Annual Meeting, May 19-21, in Tampa, Fla., and participate in the pre-meeting Medication Use Quality Live workshop on May 19.
This scholarship opportunity is part of the PQA Diverse Quality Leaders Program and our commitment to build a quality workforce that represents the nation’s diversity. Self-nominations and statements of interest are highly encouraged and welcomed from all individuals interested in participating in this program. Learn more below.
We also highlight our members' perspectives on rare disease, oncology care and pharmacists addressing complex health needs. If you have news you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email!
-- Melanie Lam, PharmD, Executive Fellow
A session hosted by URAC at the 2024 NASP Annual Meeting & Expo discussed the unique nature—and opportunities—of rare disease pharmacy management, and how different health systems have tackled this specialty. Rare disease pharmaceutical treatments require an additional layer of expertise of a specialty pharmacy, in addition to much greater staff education, patient and manufacturer interaction, and clinical coordination. PQA released a report summarizing a November 2024 convening event to discuss what defines high-quality medication use for rare diseases.
Overcoming Cancer Care Disparities
Texas Oncology's Susan Escudier discussed the impact of insurance coverage gaps, transportation barriers, and financial hardships on cancer care access and emphasizes the need for payers to better support patients at high risk. She explains how oncology benefit design should evolve to better support patients facing social determinants of health (SDOH) barriers. PQA is prioritizing research and measurement strategies to improve the quality of care for individuals using oral anticancer medications.
Managing Complex Health Needs
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy identified factors contributing to Medicaid Managed Care complexities and collected evidence of pharmacists’ ability to address patients’ health needs. Pharmacists, who participated in a community pharmacy Medicaid MCO payer program, provided care to patients with complex health needs. In addition to medication-related problems, specific factors that increased pharmacist perception of encounter complexity were care coordination with other health care providers, behavioral health support for patients, and addressing the patients' social determinants of health.
Diversity in Quality Scholarship 
PQA's Diversity in Quality Scholarship program for minority health care professional students to attend the 2025 PQA Annual Meeting and participate in the pre-meeting Medication Use Quality workshop. The PQA Annual Meeting is a premier setting for learning about top issues and emerging trends in medication quality, measure development and implementation, care transformation and technology.
This program is open to students who have completed at least their second year of study in a pharmacy or other health care degree program. Self-nominations will be accepted through a form on the PQA website through March 14, 2025.
Selected participants will be notified by March 21, 2025. Individuals selected for a scholarship will receive complimentary registration to the meeting and MUQ Live workshop, three nights’ hotel and a $750 travel stipend. Learn more about the PQA Diverse Quality Leaders Program on the PQA website. This program is made possible in part by the generous support of Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer and McKesson. Please email [email protected] with any questions.
Your Next Engagement Opportunities
Network, Learn and Collaborate with PQA
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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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PQA is now accepting self-nominations for the Diversity in Quality Scholarship. The program provides scholarships for health care professional students to attend the 2025 PQA Annual Meeting. The deadline to submit self-nominations is March 14, 2025.
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Join us at the 2025 PQA Annual Meeting, May 19-21, at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street in Tampa, Fla. PQA's collaborative approach makes it the meeting the preferred destination for quality improvement professionals. Registration is now open!