Alignment Healthcare Earns Excellence in Quality Award for Pharmacy Services
Pharmacy Quality Alliance recognizes prescription drug plans on overall performance and medication safety measures
ORANGE, Calif. (May 20, 2019) – For the second consecutive year, Alignment Healthcare has been recognized by the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) for high achievement in overall prescription drug plan performance and quality of medication use.
Eighteen Medicare plan contracts across the country were honored for high achievement or significant improvement in medication quality measures such as medication adherence, which means taking medications as prescribed, for diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure. PQA announced the award recipients at its 2019 annual meeting in May.
Alignment managed two of the contracts recognized for excellence in quality:
Alignment Health Plan (H3815)
BlueMedicare Preferred (H2758)
“The Pharmacy Quality Alliance is pleased to recognize Alignment Healthcare with the 2019 Excellence in Quality Award for its high achievement in PQA medication quality measures,” said Laura Cranston, PQA CEO. “We congratulate Alignment Healthcare for its work to ensure the effective use of medications.”
Half of U.S. patients do not take their medications as prescribed, according to data from The New England Journal of Medicine. Medication adherence is specifically worse among patients with chronic disorders such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and members of vulnerable populations such as the elderly. Non-adherence to medication, or failure to take medication as prescribed, can result in disease progression, emergency room visits and unnecessary hospitalization and readmissions.
“Alignment focuses on identifying and addressing each member’s barrier to medication adherence through sophisticated data analytics and concierge-level clinical interventions,” said Ali Farrokhroo, Pharm.D., MBA, Alignment Healthcare vice president, pharmacy services. “We have built a medication management model that is scalable and can be used in any Medicare Advantage population to improve medication adherence, increase Medicare star ratings and reduce drug costs.”
PQA Excellence in Quality Award recipients achieve at least a 4.5-star out of 5-star Part D summary rating and a 5-star rating on all five PQA medication measures used in the 2019 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) star ratings program. Every year, Medicare evaluates plans based on a 5-star rating.
“Alignment Healthcare is committed to keeping our promise to put seniors first,” said Dawn Maroney, Alignment Healthcare consumer president. “I could not be prouder of our pharmacy team and the work they have done to help our members manage their medications better and live healthier and happier lives.”
In 2018, Alignment Healthcare was the first to receive PQA’s Excellence in Quality Award and Quality Improvement Award in the same year. The Alignment team also earned high marks from the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute in 2017 for improving medication adherence rates among seniors being treated for diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
ABOUT ALIGNMENT HEALTHCARE
Alignment Healthcare is redefining the business of health care by shifting the focus from payments to people. We’ve created a new model for health care delivery that cuts costs and improves lives by unraveling the inefficiencies of the current system to drive patients, providers and payers toward a common goal of wellness. Harnessing best practices from Medicare Advantage, our innovative data-management technology allows us to commit to caring for seniors and those who need it most: the chronically ill and frail. With offices and care centers across the country, Alignment Healthcare provides partners and patients with customized care and service where they need it and when they need it, including clinical coordination, risk management and technology facilitation. Alignment Healthcare offers health plan options to California residents through Alignment Health Plan, and partners with select health plans in North Carolina and Florida to help deliver better benefits at lower costs. For more information, please visit alignmenthealthcare.com.
MEDIA CONTACT
Cindy Keo
[email protected]
(657) 218-7781