In November, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) and Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) announced a collaboration aimed at developing a patient-centered outcomes research agenda to improve social determinants of health screenings and interventions in pharmacy settings.





The year-long project received funding from the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards program and will feature an in-person workshop held in conjunction with the PQA Annual Meeting in May.


To learn more about this initiative, why it is needed, and how it will be carried out, The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) spoke with Melissa Castora-Binkley, PhD, the senior director of research at PQA and Rebekah Angove, PhD, vice president for patient experience at PAF.


In this episode of Managed Care Cast, Castora-Binkley and Angove discuss why pharmacists are in a unique position to help address social determinants of health and the importance of incorporating patients’ perspectives into research agendas.

Project Aims to Increase Pharmacists' Role in Addressing SDOH

Science

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Illinois CancerCare's Pankaj Kumar, MD, and Stephanie Parker, PharmD, 2 authors of a commentary published in the May 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care.

Their commentary, "Access Denied: CMS’ Action Hurts Patients With Cancer in Rural America," discusses how recent CMS rules restricted the access of rural patients with cancer to medically integrated pharmacies, emphasizing the need for regulatory change.

Cancer Care Crisis: Experts Discuss CMS Restrictions Impacting Rural Patients With Cancer

In the series debut episode of Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity, Mary Sligh, CRNP, and Chelsea Chappars, of Allegheny Health Network, explain how the Urban Health Outreach program aims to improve health equity for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity: Urban Health Outreach

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Karen Iapoce, senior director of government products and programs at ZeOmega. We discussed CMS's recent Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage final rule and how it affects enrollees and health plans.

CMS Medicare Final Rule: Advancing Benefits, Competition, and Consumer Protection

To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our final episode of this limited series and our conversation with Janine Jelks-Seale, MSPPM, director of health equity at UPMC Health Plan.

Tackling Health Inequality: The Power of Education and Experience

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the University of Pennsylvania's Ravi Parikh, MD, MPP, and Aaron Schwartz, MD, PhD, 2 authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®.

Their study, "Trends in Low-Value Cancer Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic," discusses how rates of low-value cancer services among adults with newly diagnosed cancer persisted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Project Aims to Increase Pharmacists' Role in Addressing SDOH

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