Pharmacy Quality Alliance Retires Hypertension Treatment Measure

The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) has retired a performance measure on treating hypertension in patients with diabetes that is no longer in accordance with the Joint National Committee’s (JNC8) 2014 hypertension guidelines.

According to a press release from PQA, the retired measure preferred treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, or direct renin inhibitors in patients with diabetes and hypertension. However, the Eighth Joint National Committee’s 2014 Evidence-Based Guideline for the Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults indicates that first-line hypertension treatment can include calcium channel blockers, thiazide diuretics, or other medications as well as angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers.

Eighty-three percent of responding PQA members favored retiring the performance measure, PQA stated. PQA members, which include pharmacy providers, pharmacy benefit managers, health plans, academia, consumer advocates, community pharmacies, health technology vendors, and pharmaceutical research and manufacturing companies, had the opportunity to comment on the measure prior to voting.

PQA intends to work with member organizations and government programs that still have the measure in place as they decide whether to continue using the measure.