PQA Offers CE Program on Medication Use Quality

Appropriate and safe use of medication is an essential part of high-quality care that improves health care affordability and patient outcomes.

To help health care professionals implement effective quality improvement programs, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) has developed Medication Use Quality, an online continuing education (CE) and certificate program.

The program provides advanced training on quality measurement and strategies to improve medication adherence, appropriate use, and safety.

Nurses, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and physicians can earn 15 accredited CE hours through the program.

“We believe this is the first continuing education certificate program focused on medication use quality,” said Laura Cranston, RPh, PQA’s chief executive officer.

“We created the program to empower health care professionals to lead quality improvement programs throughout our care system,” she said. “It fills a major gap in continuing and interprofessional education.”

The program features a core curriculum, elective tracks, and practice-based learning. It addresses top issues that will shape quality for years to come, including as follows: • diabetes, heart disease, opioids, and other high-impact areas of care;

• health information technology;
• innovative pharmacist-provided care;
• Medicaid, Medicare, and federal programs;
• private-sector innovation;
• social determinants of health and
• value-based care.

Whether a health care professional focuses on internal quality improvement or performancebased payment models, the training provides valuable insights and strategies for delivering better results.

The faculty for the program includes 17 health care quality leaders from the PQA staff and nationally recognized organizations, including Gateway Health, Pharmacy Quality Solutions, Towncrest Pharmacy, UPMC Health Plan, and Walgreens.

“PQA regularly partners with our member associations and CE providers [such as] Pharmacy Times® on educational programs that address best practices in pharmacist-provided services and patient care,” said Loren Kirk, PharmD, PQA’s director of stakeholder engagement. “Our new certificate program focused on medication use quality is a great complement to the other continuing education that is available to pharmacists and quality-interested health care professionals.”

The program, which was unveiled at PQA’s 2020 Annual Meeting in May, is offered online through self-paced modules. For more information, including pricing, visit PQA’s website. Discounts for PQA members and academic institutions and group purchasing options are available.

Richard Schmitz, MA, is senior director of communications at the Pharmacy Quality Alliance in Alexandria, Virginia.

REFERENCE

PQA Medication Use Quality. Pharmacy Quality Alliance. Accessed September 25, 2020. https://www.pqaalliance.org/medication- use-quality