Inovalon Partners with Pharmacy Quality Alliance to Evaluate Medication Adherence Quality Performance Measure

BOWIE, Md., May 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Inovalon, Inc., a leading provider of data-driven healthcare solutions, today announced the completion of a collaborative study with the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) on healthcare quality measurement testing of Adherence to Non-Warfarin Oral Anticoagulants.

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The Adherence to Non-Warfarin Oral Anticoagulant measure uses Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) to assess the percentage of patients covered by prescription claims for drugs within the same therapeutic class. The PDC threshold is the level above which the medication has a reasonable likelihood of achieving the most clinical benefit. For quality measurement purposes, a standard PDC threshold of 80% is commonly used. Warfarin was not included in the adherence measure as frequent dosing adjustments that occur with warfarin therapy make accurate adherence calculation improbable. The study targets adherence to non-warfarin anticoagulants in the absence of surrogate lab testing such as INR.

The measure rate was calculated and produced utilizing Inovalon's Medical Outcomes Research for Effectiveness and Economics (MORE2 Registry) data warehouse which contains information from more than 6.5 billion medical events from more than 85 million unique (and de-identified) individuals across the country. The dataset goes beyond claims data to include information about demographics, enrollment, diagnoses, procedures, pharmacy, and laboratory results and represents a significant mix of commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid managed care plan members. The MORE2 Registry is updated on an ongoing basis and empowers Inovalon's quality measurement development and testing capabilities.

"Inovalon's research and analytic capabilities contribute to the growing body of evidence that supports improved medication adherence as a means to achieving better outcomes for patients," said Kristian Marquez, Vice President of Clinical & Quality Outcomes at Inovalon. "We are pleased to partner with PQA on quality initiatives which play a vital role in addressing the myriad challenges of adherence."

Based on scientific evidence and testing results, PQA's Quality Metrics Expert Panel (QMEP) considers the measure to be important, scientifically valid, feasible, and potentially useful for quality improvement. The PQA staff and the QMEP recommend the measure for endorsement by members.

"PQA is dedicated to improving the quality of medication management and patient's health through a collaborative process to develop and implement performance measures," said Laura Cranston, Executive Director at Pharmacy Quality Alliance. "Partnering with Inovalon to complete the study of healthcare quality measure testing of Adherence to Non-Warfarin Oral Anticoagulants contributes to our mission."

Inovalon will be exhibiting at the PQA Annual Meeting & Best Practices Forum in Washington, D.C. May 28-30, 2013.

About Pharmacy Quality Alliance

Established in 2006, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) isa 501(c) 3 designated non-profit alliance with 120 member organizations. PQA is amulti-stakeholder, consensus-based membership organization that collaboratively promotes appropriate medication use and develops strategies for measuring and reporting performance information related to medications.

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Inovalon Partners with Pharmacy Quality Alliance to Evaluate Medication Adherence Quality Performance Measure