Alexandria, Va. (October 15, 2019) – The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) is hosting a national forum to showcase emerging best practices to address the social determinants of health (SDOH) and the role of pharmacists. Caring for the Whole Patient: Leveraging Pharmacists to Address Social Determinants of Health takes place November 19-20 in Arlington, Va., at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel.

The forum features presentations by national leaders from pharmacy, health plans, health systems and solutions providers, who are pioneering SDOH initiatives. They will address SDOH across different populations, in diverse care settings, and the business case for paying to address SDOH. Confirmed speakers include:

• Amina Abubakar, PharmD, Rx Clinic Pharmacy
• Haleta Belai, Centene
• Garth Graham, MD, MPH, Aetna Foundation
• Angela Hagan, MPA, PhD, Humana
• Brooke Hudspeth, PharmD, The Kroger Company
• Benjamin McNabb, PharmD, Love Oak Pharmacy
• Nupur Mehta, MD, CareMore Health System
• Lisa Mostovoy, PharmD, BCBS Association
• Andrey Ostrovsky, MD, Social Innovation Ventures

After the presentations, attendees and speakers will discuss through a series of Innovation Laboratories strategies for scaling SDOH solutions and leveraging pharmacists in their organizations' work. Efforts to address SDOH are on the rise across the U.S. health care system. As trusted providers embedded in the community, pharmacists are pivotal partners for screening, evaluation, services and connecting individuals with resources.

The forum is open to the public and individuals from PQA member organizations can attend at no cost. It takes place just prior to PQA’s annual Leadership Summit, which is November 20-21. PQA's SDOH efforts are focused on access to care and expanding pharmacist-provided care. PQA fosters partnerships that position pharmacists as indispensable patient partners and clinical care team members, and PQA leverages quality measurement to identify and address the factors that impact a patient’s ability to gain access to needed medications. Access is a major factor in medication adherence, and non-adherence costs the U.S. healthcare system $100 billion to $289 billion annually.

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