Pharmacy Quality Alliance Appoints 2024 Board of Directors and Executive Committee

The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) Board of Directors appointed seven new members to the 25-member board and approved its 2024 Executive Committee during the 2023 fourth quarter meeting. Individuals will begin serving January 1.

“PQA’s Board of Directors is a collaborative, strategic and visionary group of industry experts and decision makers aligned around achieving quality medication use,” PQA CEO Micah Cost, PharmD, MS, CAE, said. “The board’s leadership ensures that the alliance is optimally positioned to work with members and stakeholders to address the most pressing issues facing patients and our health care system related to medication safety, access and appropriate use. I’m excited to welcome our seven new members and to continue to work with Chair Cantrell and our returning board members to fulfill PQA’s mission in the coming year.”

Susan Cantrell, Chief Executive Officer of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, will serve as PQA’s board chair in 2024. Cantrell has been a member of the PQA board since 2018. Cantrell succeeds Michael Taday, Senior Vice President, Service Operations, at Aetna, A CVS Health Company, who served as PQA’s board chair in 2023 and will continue as immediate past chair and board member.

“Medications are the backbone of disease treatment and play an essential role in providing quality care to patients worldwide,” Cantrell said. “I’m honored to serve as PQA’s incoming board chair and look forward to working with this impressive group of leaders from across the health care industry as we support PQA’s goals of improving medication safety, adherence and appropriate use.”

PQA’s board, including its executive committee, represents the breadth and diversity of PQA’s multi-stakeholder membership. In addition to Cantrell and Taday, the 2024 executive committee includes:

• Jim Kirby, Chief Commercial Officer, Kroger Health (vice-chair)
• Sharon Jhawar, Chief Pharmacy Officer, SCAN Health Plan (secretary)
• Jeff Rochon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pace Alliance, Inc. (treasurer)
• Amina Abubakar, Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Avant Pharmacy & Wellness Center (representing CPESN USA) (member at large)

The new board appointments for 2024 are:

• Parmjit Agarwal, Vice President, Channel Management, Pfizer, Inc.
• Scott Dell, Vice President, US Value Evidence and Outcomes, Eli Lilly and Company
• Lauren Esterly, Associate Vice President, Clinical Strategies and Patient Safety, Humana
• Jim Gartner, President, PerformRx, LLC
• Deanna Horner, Chief Pharmacy Officer, UnitedHealthcare Government Programs
• Crystal Lennartz, President, Health Mart and Health Mart Atlas
• Anita Patel, Vice President, Pharmacy Development Services, Walgreens

Eleven board members will continue their service in 2024:

• Shantanu Agrawal, Chief Health Officer, Elevance Health
• Sheila Arquette, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP)
• Ilisa Bernstein, Senior Vice President, American Pharmacists Association
• Ceci Connolly, President and Chief Executive Officer, Alliance of Community Health Plans
• Laurin Dixon, Lead Executive, Medicare Products, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield
• Linda Garrelts MacLean, Vice President, Community Pharmacy Foundation, Professor Emeritus, Washington State University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals Sciences
• J.W. Hill, Chief Operating Officer, National Council for Prescription Drug Programs
• Michelle Ketcham, Director, Division of Clinical and Operational Performance, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (Ex Officio Member)
• Brian Nightengale, Executive Vice President and President, Healthcare Solutions, Inmar Intelligence
• Christopher Powers, Director, Medicare Stars Data and Analytics, Cigna Insurance Company
• Tricia Lee Rolle, Senior Advisor to the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

Jeffrey Kelman, Chief Medical Officer for the Center for Medicare at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will continue to serve as a CMS Special Advisor to the Board.

PQA thanks the following board members and liaisons whose terms conclude at the end of the year:

• Vikki Ahern, Senior Vice President and Plan President of Medicare Part D, Magellan Rx Management
• Lou Dallago, formerly of Pfizer, Inc.
• Michael Duteau, Chief Executive Officer, KPH Healthcare Services
• Lida Etemad, formerly of UnitedHealthcare
• Rick Gates, Senior Vice President, Pharmacy and Healthcare, Walgreens
• Matt Osterhaus, Pharmacist, Osterhaus Pharmacy
• Jennifer Van Meter, formerly of Novartis Pharmaceuticals