PQA provides healthcare quality experience to students from a wide variety of disciplines. This summer, we are hosting three students through our PQA Summer Executive Internship sponsored by Pharmacy Quality Solutions and MPH practicum program.
This guest blog is one in a series by sponsors of the 2022 PQA Annual Meeting on the application of measures into daily practice. The views shared in this series are those of the author and do not reflect any PQA positions
At PQA, our research develops evidence to support meaningful quality measures, demonstrates the value of medications and pharmacist-provided care, and fosters collaboration within the healthcare system to address social determinants of health (SDOH) and improve medication access.
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’s Board of Directors represents a diverse group of thought leaders and experts in healthcare, who understand how medication optimization improves patient outcomes and supports a value-based care system. Their expertise helps PQA advance the safe and appropriate use of medicines. This blog is one in a series profiling PQA's Board members.
Healthcare providers increasingly recognize the importance of social determinants of health (SDOH). PQA is exploring the role of pharmacists and pharmacy services in addressing patients’ SDOH, including SDOH screenings and additional services that address barriers to medication access and increase medication adherence. Although there is a growing focus on SDOH in healthcare, there is little information on how organizations collect and use SDOH data to support patient care and outcomes.
This past January, PQA published the first edition of the PQA Social Determinants of Health Resource Guide. The guide features 20 real-world SDOH services that are promising for improving the quality and safety of medication use.
PQA, the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Janssen Scientific Affairs have collaborated to jointly host a "Postdoctoral Fellowship in Real World Evidence, Population Health, and Quality Research." The two-year fellowship aims to prepare an individual for a career in healthcare quality-related outcomes research.
Pharmacists and pharmacy teams are an essential part of the health care delivery system. As pharmacies expand patient services, they need tools to demonstrate their value.
PQA follows a systematic, transparent and consensus-based development process to ensure that measures are important, scientifically acceptable, feasible and usable. This approach produces strong, consistent results, but it also takes time.
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.
A comprehensive medication review (CMR) is a medication therapy management (MTM) service designed to systematically collect and assess patient medication information and identify medication therapy problems (MTPs) to develop a care plan for resolution. To ensure Medicare Part D plans are actively engaging in annual CMRs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added the PQA measure, Completion Rate for CMR, to the Medicare Part D Star Ratings Program. This measure assesses the annual percentage of completed CMRs for eligible beneficiaries.
In a new Population Health Management article, PQA’s Melissa Castora-Binkley, Lisa Hines and I explain how medication adherence quality measures are relevant and high-impact.
PQA’s talented staff is dedicated to improving medication safety, adherence and appropriate use. As experts in measure development, research, education and convening, they lead the implementation of PQA’s quality initiatives to support better medication use and high-quality care. This blog is one in a series profiling PQA's staff.
The 2022 PQA Annual Meeting poster session featured 24 quality improvement and research projects. Sponsored by Pharmacy Quality Solutions, the session provided an opportunity for authors to showcase their work and for attendees to engage in insightful dialogue about health care quality.
Medication adherence quality measures are relevant and high-impact, according to PQA’s Ben Shirley, Melissa Castora-Binkley and Lisa Hines, whose Population Health Management point of view article was published online April 29.
They explain that adherence measures in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Part D Star Ratings have contributed to immense public health benefits and savings over the last decade. As the measures evolve to integrate new data sources and address equity, their value to the health system will continue. They are an excellent example of how evidence-based quality measures implemented into accountability programs with meaningful incentives can move the needle and improve population health.
Although many pharmacists have partnered with public health entities and providers to address and improve challenges associated with social determinants of health (SDOH), there has not been a pharmacy screening tool developed with patient input.
PQA has appointed 17 individuals from member organizations to serve on a technical expert panel (TEP) to review and provide input on draft specifications for a health plan measure concept: Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) Composite.
We are less than two weeks away from the 2022 PQA Annual Meeting in Baltimore! I look forward to connecting with you in-person and discussing our shared goals to advance medication use quality.
