Many health conditions require management with complex medication regimens that demand careful monitoring and frequent dose adjustment. The reliance on drug-based therapies has led to amplified concerns regarding the appropriate use of medications across conditions and populations. The quality of medication use is a subject that has received increasing national attention during the past several years.
Current processes used for monitoring the care associated with medication use are suboptimal.
Differences in data sources and collection techniques for existing measures make it difficult to compare performance across organizations. Consensus around a universal set of tested performance measures would greatly enhance the appropriate use of medications. Appreciating the deficiencies of tools currently used for evaluating care associated with drug therapy, public and private sector groups organized in 1997, to form the Coalition for Quality in Medication Use. These measures will be clearly defined so that they can be implemented in ambulatory settings, and used by public and private sector payers, purchasers, regulators, accreditors, and health care organizations. Of 17 identified focus areas, seven were selected for initial consideration, with the remaining ten to be considered in the future.