PRESS RELEASE PQA to Host Forum on Quality Medication Use in Rare Disease Event will share patient, specialty pharmacy, pharmaceutical industry and payer perspectives Alexandria, Va. (September 17, 2024) – PQA, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance, is bringing leaders in the rare disease community together to discuss quality medication use in a one-day forum on November 7 in Arlington, Va. The event, PQA Convenes: Quality Medication Use in Rare Disease, features panels with patients, caregivers and patient advocates, and representatives from specialty pharmacies, pharmaceutical industry organizations, and public and private payers, who will share their perspectives on what constitutes quality and how to improve it. “Medication therapies and treatments for rare diseases are both complex and challenging, and evaluating what constitutes quality and how to improve it is essential to ensuring quality medication use,” PQA Chief Executive Officer Micah Cost, PharmD, MS, CAE, said. “Exploring the many factors that drive high-quality rare disease medication use is an important goal for PQA members. As a multi-stakeholder and consensus-based organization, PQA is excited to bring our diverse members and rare disease leaders together to advance the conversation on how to improve care quality and patient outcomes.” Health care organizations use a broad range of largely internal quality indicators to evaluate rare disease care. This PQA Convenes event will:
“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,” PQA Chief Engagement Officer Richard Schmitz said. “Like all patients, individuals with rare disease want medications that are accessible, safe, effective and help them achieve the best outcomes possible.” The challenge of improving medication use quality in rare disease is similar to that of conditions that affect small populations but are not strictly defined as rare. The insights and approaches to addressing one will benefit both. Variations within type 1 diabetes, for example, often lead to small populations when considering the origins, progression and treatment of disease. PQA Convenes is from 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View. Approximately 200 attendees from PQA member organizations and individuals and organizations interested in rare disease are expected to attend. The event immediately proceeds the 2024 PQA Leadership Summit, which is November 7-8, at the same location. Visit www.pqaleadershipsummit.org/pqa-convenes for additional information about the event and to register. ### About PQA PQA, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance, is a national quality organization dedicated to improving medication safety, adherence and appropriate use. A measure developer, researcher, educator and convener, PQA’s quality initiatives support better medication use and high-quality care. PQA was established in 2006 as a public-private partnership with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. PQA was created because prescription drug programs were a major area of health care where there was no organization or national program focused on quality improvement. Today, PQA is an independent, non-profit organization with more than 200 diverse members across health care. Contact: Rachel Cormier, Senior Manager, Communications, [email protected] |