PQA Endorses One Quality Measure and Retires Three Quality Measures

Alexandria, Va. (October 17, 2025) – The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA), through a majority vote of its members, has endorsed one new health plan quality measure and retired three quality measures.

The newly endorsed measure, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Treatment Ratio (CTR), evaluates the percentage of individuals 40 years of age or older whose Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Treatment Ratio (CTR) is least 70 percent during the treatment period. COPD is a common, preventable and treatable disease that has been diagnosed in approximately 14.2 million U.S. patients and is the sixth leading cause of death post-COVID-19.

“Quality measures have demonstrated promotion of population health in chronic disease and are a vital component of U.S. value-based payment models,” said Ben Shirley, PQA Senior Director, Performance Measurement. “However, there are currently no COPD-related quality measures included in the Medicare Part C & D Star Ratings program, representing a measurement gap that is especially important given COPD’s outsized effect on older individuals. As a result, the CTR measure fills an important gap.”

As part of PQA’s measure life cycle, measures may be identified for retirement consideration. PQA members voted in favor of retiring three measures due to their lack of use. The three measures retired are:

• Use of Medications to Prevent Major Cardiovascular Events in Persons with Diabetes (CVDM)
• Medication Therapy Problem Resolution (MTPR)
• Primary Medication Nonadherence [Pharmacy] (PMN-PH)

“Retirement is essential as a measure steward to maximize the value of our active measure portfolio,” said Carolyn Lockwood, RN, MSN, PQA Senior Director, Performance Measurement. “Although we are retiring the Medication Therapy Problem Resolution (MTPR) measure, the PQA Medication Therapy Problem Categories Framework™ remains available as a consensus-based resource to support standardized documentation of medication therapy problems and resolution.”

PQA uses a systematic, transparent, and consensus-based process to conceptualize, specify, test, endorse, and maintain measures of medication use quality. The process centers on standard criteria for evaluating measures, ensuring that PQA-endorsed measures are evidence-based and meaningful while advancing national quality goals.