Pharmacy Quality Alliance

What Pharmacy Quality Alliance does

Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) is a U.S. national nonprofit quality organization founded in 2006 and headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. PQA operates as a measure developer, researcher, educator, and convener, with a stated mission of improving medication safety, adherence, and appropriate use. Its core product is a portfolio of PQA Measures — standardized quality measures that assess appropriate medication use, safety, adherence, and medication services, and which are licensed to healthcare organizations for performance measurement and value-based care reporting. Supporting offerings include the Quality Innovation and Research Center (QuIRC) for research collaboration, an education and training portfolio (postdoctoral fellowship, MPH practicum, summer executive internship, APPE rotation, and the Kelman Quality Leadership Program), and a convening platform comprising the PQA Annual Meeting, Leadership Summit, PQA Convenes, member webinars, and the Quality Awards program.

PQA's go-to-market is community-led and membership-based. Revenue is generated primarily through recurring membership dues from healthcare providers, pharmacies, health plans, payers, and other healthcare stakeholders, supplemented by measure licensing fees and education/certificate revenue processed through its e-commerce portal (my.pqa.org). Pricing is not publicly disclosed, consistent with negotiated, enterprise-style agreements. The organization serves a horizontal customer base across the U.S. healthcare value chain, including pharmacies and providers, health plans and payers, and researchers/policymakers, with quality measurement and value-based care implementation as the unifying use case.

PQA is a 20-year-old mature organization, having recently celebrated its "PQA at 20" milestone, with an 11-50 employee footprint. Its most recent strategic emphasis, evidenced by 2026 programming, is on refocusing quality measures through a patient lens and positioning itself as a convener for AI governance in medication use quality, including webinars and annual meeting sessions on AI-driven quality measurement and integrating pharmacy into AI innovation. The technical core of the business is measurement science and quality improvement methodology, not software or AI development; measures and educational content are the principal artifacts.

Name

Pharmacy Quality Alliance

Legal name

Pharmacy Quality Alliance

Website

https://pqaalliance.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pharmacy Quality Alliance is a U.S. national nonprofit that develops, licenses, and convenes around standardized quality measures for medication safety, adherence, and appropriate use, serving pharmacies, health plans, providers, and researchers through membership and measure licensing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Quality Measurement

NAICS

Pharmacy Benefit Management and Other Third Party Administration of Insurance and Pension Funds (524292)

akta.pro primary industry

Pharmacy Benefit Analytics, Reporting & Employer Consulting (HLAEAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) & Formulary Management IT (HLACAKAD), PBM Technology Platforms (ePA/eRx/Real-Time Benefit Tools) (HLAEAKAL)

Keywords

• Quality measurement
• Medication safety
• Pharmacy quality measures
• Value-based care
• Medication adherence

Headquarters

HQ city

Alexandria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: PQA generates revenue through membership fees from healthcare organizations, pharmacies, health plans, and other stakeholders seeking to improve medication quality and access industry insights.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) develops, licenses and maintains quality measures that assess appropriate medication use, safety, adherence and medication services to support person-centered, value-based care. It also operates a membership-based community, delivers education and training programs, and conducts research through its Quality Innovation and Research Center (QuIRC) to advance medication use quality across the U.S. healthcare system.

Product overview

PQA operates as a national quality organization offering a suite of interconnected products and programs. The core offering is PQA Measures, which provides quality measures assessing medication safety, adherence, and appropriate use. Supporting this are education and training programs including postdoctoral fellowships, practicum programs, internships, APPE rotations, and the Kelman Quality Leadership Program. Research and innovation are housed within the Quality Innovation and Research Center (QuIRC). The organization also convenes stakeholders through events including the Annual Meeting, Leadership Summit, and PQA Convenes, along with recognition through the Quality Awards program. PQA member webinars and Quality Forum webinars provide ongoing education to stakeholders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PQA Measures
• Measure Licensing
• PQA Membership Program
• PQA Education & Training (Courses and Certificates)
• PQA Kelman Quality Leadership Program
• Quality Innovation and Research Center (QuIRC)

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA): NCQA is a non-profit quality measurement organization that develops HEDIS measures used by health plans, paralleling PQA's role as a measure developer for pharmacy/medication use quality. Both organizations license standardized quality measures to payers and providers for performance evaluation and value-based care contracts.
• National Quality Forum (NQF): NQF is a non-profit that endorses and stewards healthcare quality measures, including those used in federal programs. It is comparable because its measurement endorsement directly affects which measures (including PQA's) gain credibility and adoption in value-based care.
• URAC: URAC is a non-profit healthcare quality accreditation organization that develops standards and measures for health plans, PBMs, and providers. It competes with PQA in the healthcare quality measurement and accreditation space, particularly for PBM and pharmacy services.
• Pharmacy Quality Solutions (PQS): PQS is a pharmacy quality measurement company that operationalizes PQA-endorsed measures through its EQuIPP platform for payers and pharmacies. It is a direct downstream user of PQA's measure IP, making it the closest technology-enabled peer in medication use quality measurement.
• Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP): AMCP is a professional association for managed care pharmacists that convenes payers, PBMs, and providers around pharmaceutical quality and value-based care. It overlaps PQA's pharmacy stakeholder community and convening function around managed care quality.

Broad incumbents

• The Joint Commission: The Joint Commission is a large, established non-profit that accredits and measures quality across healthcare organizations, including medication safety. It is a broad incumbent in healthcare quality measurement with overlapping scope on medication safety but operates at far greater scale.

Emerging players

• Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI): PBMI is a research and education organization focused on pharmacy benefit management. It overlaps PQA's audience of PBMs and payers and operates in adjacent PBM-analytics and educational territory, though narrower in clinical quality measurement.
• Health Catalyst: Health Catalyst is a healthcare data and analytics platform used by health systems for quality measurement and improvement. It is an emerging player because it competes in the technology layer that operationalizes measures like PQA's, though it is a for-profit vendor.
• American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP): ASHP is a national professional association for hospital and health-system pharmacists with education, advocacy, and practice standards functions. It overlaps PQA's pharmacy workforce development and education positioning, particularly through pharmacy practice quality.

Others

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): CMS is a federal agency that adopts and uses pharmacy quality measures (e.g., in Star Ratings). It is an ecosystem participant/buyer rather than a competitor, but its endorsement decisions are determinative of the demand for PQA's measures.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PQAAlliance
• Facebookfacebook.com/pqaalliance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pqa-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pharmacy Quality Alliance