EQUIPP® Refresh Notice: December 8, 2023
The latest dataset was made available in EQUIPP® as of December 8, 2023. This dataset now includes 6-month performance information based off of prescription drug claims from May 1, 2023 through October 31, 2023.
YTD Date Range: January 1, 2023 - October 31, 2023
2023 Industry Trend Report in Pharmacy Quality
PQS has released its 2023 Industry Trend Report in Pharmacy Quality, which focuses on the influence of socio-demographic and utilization factors on medication adherence measure rates.
Chapter highlights include:
- The impact of socio-demographic factors, including age, gender, and low-income subsidy (LIS) status, on adherence rates for Cholesterol, Diabetes, and Renin Angiotensin System Antagonists (RASA) Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) measures
- Insight on how adherence can be impacted by factors such as drug switching within a measurement year and the utilization of extended fills
2024 Medicare Part C & D Star Ratings Technical Notes Summary
As a partner for improving quality, PQS has provided key highlights from the 2024 Part C & D Star Ratings Technical Notes that impact pharmacy-based quality measures. Highlights include
- the impact of the Tukey outlier deletion
- focused updates for medication-related Part D measures
- performance trend graphs for MAPD and PDP
- measure threshold charts
Key Notes:
- The number of Medicare Advantage members in a 4-Star plan increased. However, the overall Star Rating measure for plans and for many individual measures decreased for the 2024 Star Ratings.
- Adherence measures continue as a focal point for Part D plans (both Medicare Advantage plans with Part D coverage, and for standalone Prescription Drug Plans)
- Controlling Blood Pressure (CBP) is now a triple-weighted measure for Medicare Advantage plans. Given this new and increased weighting, plan sponsors will look to further engage with providers to obtain blood pressure readings for applicable plan members.
- Diabetes Care – Blood Sugar Controlled continues as a triple-weighted measure but shows a significant decline in Star Rating threshold, like the CBP measure.
Enhanced Services:
PQS and health plan partners will continue to support blood pressure and A1C data collection services to be performed in the pharmacy. PQS is hosting opportunities in the EQUIPP platform for year-end adherence monitoring to impact patients meeting the therapeutic intent in adherence measures. To access resources related to these enhanced services programs, please visit our Knowledge Base, accessible to all end users through Support in EQUIPP or directly via this link.
Things to Know:
Webinar Recordings - Please visit our New Resource Materials Section for our most recently recorded webinars.
NEW! Updated EQUIPP Videos
PQS has updated EQUIPP educational videos to match our current platform. Our first three videos can be accessed in this YouTube playlist.
Our latest video (below) explains how to navigate and document opportunities in the Controlling Blood Pressure and Hemoglobin A1C programs within the Enhanced Services tab of EQUIPP. For more information on Enhanced Services, visit the EQUIPP Knowledge Base.