February 14: PQA Endorses Three Pharmacy Performance Measures

Plus, the latest pharmacy and healthcare news to know this week.

The Story

Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) has endorsed three new pharmacy performance measures evaluating hypertension, cholesterol, and HIV treatments. Simultaneously, the organization retired six health plan performance measures. 

Why It Matters

PQA introduced pharmacy performance measures to help showcase pharmacists’ contributions toward high-quality, patient-centered care. The new measures target gaps in quality improvement and address areas where medication adherence is low, according to Drug Store News. The three new measures include:

1. Proportion of Days Covered: Renin Angiotensin System Antagonists
2. Proportion of Days Covered: Statins
3. Proportion of Days Covered: Antiretroviral Medications

On the health plan front, PQA retired four measures related to adherence of individual diabetes medication classes. In their place, plans will use the more comprehensive all-class diabetes adherence measure, which can also be used to monitor individual class rates. The other retired measures are Diabetes Medication Dosing and Use of Benzodiazepine Sedative Hypnotic Medications in the Elderly. 

PQA has noted that it will move its focus to measures related to patient health outcomes and areas of care and quality performance pharmacists are able to impact. 

Other important healthcare news to know:

1. Women and lower-income enrollees are most likely to change their Medicare Advantage plans. Yahoo Finance.

2. The Missouri Pharmacy Association is throwing its weight behind legislation to regulate PBMs. Fox St. Louis.

3. The new federal budget proposal would reduce Medicare spending by $451 billion over 10 years. ABC News.

4. The coronavirus is now officially COVID-19. CNBC.

5. A new study shows naloxone dispensing increased significantly in Ohio after pharmacists were allowed to provide it without a prescription. HealthDay.