Five for Friday December 1: Celebrating Success in Advancing Medication Use Quality
PQA’s strategic plan, Blueprint PQA 2025, includes the vision of achieving organizational excellence through structure and processes that deliver exceptional value to our members and stakeholders.
In support of this goal, PQA has performed a review of its bylaws and proposes revisions which modernize and streamline this important governing document.
Our Board of Directors unanimously approved in September the revisions recommended by the Board’s ad hoc Bylaws & Policy Committee. Following a member comment period, the Board and committee did not recommend any changes to the proposed revisions to the bylaws, which are now before PQA members for a vote. Read more below about the revisions and our voting process.
We also highlight our members' perspectives on health equity outcomes, empowering pharmacy staff and HIV education. If you have news you'd like for us to spotlight in an upcoming Five For Friday, send us an email!
-- Melissa Viscovich, PQA Chief Operating Officer
A recent RxE2-sponsored pilot project sought to understand the feasibility of documenting health-related patient race and ethnicity information at the community pharmacy. If community pharmacists can easily collect these data, they can be an effective resource to promote clinical trial diversity. Standardizing the terminologies and qualifications for race, ethnicity, and other social determinants of health could also advance health equity, said Jake Galdo of CPESN Health Equity and Seguridad, Inc.
Empowering Pharmacy Staff to Launch New Services
The secret to successfully launching new clinical services at the independent community pharmacy level may be empowering pharmacy staff, according to a session presented at the National Community Pharmacists Association 2023 Annual Convention and Expo. CPESN affiliated speakers demystified the change management process by outlining 4 critical steps and emphasizing the crucial part pharmacy staff play in achieving success.
Educating Patients about HIV Risk, Treatments
Shields Health Solutions' Paul Rainville discussed pharmacists’ role in HIV education and management in a recent Pharmacy Times' interview. He mentioned the critical issue of addressing social drivers of health: "If you can't fulfill your physiological needs—you know, water, food, sleep, and shelter—you're probably not going to have the bandwidth to focus on your health, on getting transportation, or your medication adherence."
Modernizing PQA's Bylaws
PQA’s bylaws were last updated in December 2016. Since that time, the organization has undergone tremendous growth, and the environment in which our 501(c)3 non-profit operates has evolved. To ensure PQA is best positioned to fulfill its mission and realize the vision laid out in our Blueprint 2025, PQA’s Board of Directors formed an ad hoc Bylaws and Policies Committee. PQA would like to recognize and thank the members of the committee for their efforts: J.W. Hill (chair), Ilisa Bernstein, Susan Cantrell, Laurin Dixon, Jeff Rochon, and Michael Taday.Working with PQA staff, this committee carefully reviewed the bylaws and recommended revisions to: (1) provide clarity around our organizational structure; (2) support nimble operations and decision making, reflect current best practices in non-profit management; and (3) ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
You can read here a summary of proposed revisions to the bylaws. PQA members, via our members' Key Contacts, are responsible for voting on this proposal or designating an organizational representative to cast the vote. Each member organization has one vote. Voting closes on December 22, and we hope every PQA member will take part in the process. If you have questions, contact us at [email protected].
Your Next Engagement Opportunities
Network, Learn and Collaborate with PQA
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Join us for the next PQA Quality Forum Webinar on Thursday, December 7, 1-2 pm ET. This month's webinar features Andrew Thorne as he introduces the PQS Industry Trend Report in Pharmacy Quality for 2023. This webinar is supported by PQS. Register today!
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The PQA Quality Shadowing Program is accepting self-nominations through Friday, December 8. This program provides individuals from diverse groups the opportunity to observe certain nomination-based panels to gain knowledge that can support selection for future panels. Learn more in the Member Resources Library.
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Save the date to join us at the 2024 PQA Annual Meeting, May 14-16, at the Baltimore Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Md. Submissions for poster session abstracts for the annual meeting are due Friday, January 5, 2023. Learn more.