Drug Store News

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — PQA has expanded its team so it can continue its efforts in measure implementation, measure testing and member engagement initiatives. Laura Cranston, executive director of PQA, announced the strategic hires during an update on PQA initiatives at the organization's twelfth annual meeting.

William Lademann, RPh, MS, MBA, has joined the company as SVP, strategic alliances and measure implementation. Most recently, Lademann worked at United Health Group as VP national HEDIS medical clinical operations, where he established and managed four core centers of excellence. He has more than three decades of experience in quality measurement and reporting, hospital pharmacy practice and healthcare administration.

Lademann takes over the role previously filled by Woody Eisenberg, MD, who is retiring at the end of the month. Eisenberg has played a key role within PQA in the past four years, with respect to the measures it develops, positioning them within a variety of new organizations, including state-based health alliances, accreditation programs and new and emerging models of care.

Loren Kirk, PharmD, has been tapped as the new associate director of member engagement. Kirk has recently completed an executive fellowship with the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. Kirk will be charged with adding fresh ideas and insights to the continued growth trajectory of PQA as a multi-stakeholder, consensus-based entity. His focus will be to ensure the balance of the stakeholders as well as to foster an increased level of member engagement in measure development, implementation, research and educational initiatives.

Irene Nsiah, MPH, has been tapped as associate director of research and analytics. Nsiah will take an active role in measure testing, research and analytics to support the measure development and endorsement initiatives. Prior to joining PQA, she worked as a research scientist at Comprehensive Health Insights, where she was responsible for conducting comparative effectiveness analyses, cost and utilization studies, and burden of illness analyses to inform formulary decisions. She has extensive knowledge of claims-based research from large commercial and Medicare datasets, as well as in-depth understanding of health policy.

Finally, Nicolette Mehas, PharmD, is joining PQA as its fifth executive fellow. Mehas is a recent graduate of Purdue University. She has advanced pharmacy practice experience and has numerous professional presentations and projects under her belt. Nicolette is a very involved member of her community and has a passion for public health and health policy.

"As we continue to build out PQA's capacity as a multi-stakeholder, measure developer, we are excited to have Bill, Irene, Loren and Nicolette join the PQA team. Their combined expertise will continue to enable PQA to work collaboratively on meaningful measures that improve patient care through appropriate and safe medication use," said Cranston.