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Captain Jerry Phillips, USPHS, Continues as Council Chairperson; John R. Combes, M.D., Elected Vice Chairperson August 29, 2001 Rockville, Maryland—Captain Thomas G. (Jerry) Phillips, R.Ph., U.S. Public Health Service, has been re-elected Chairperson of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (Council). John R. Combes, M.D., was elected vice chair. Captain Phillips is associate director for medication error prevention, Office of Post-Marketing Drug Risk Assessment, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and has been an FDA representative since the Council's founding in 1995. Dr. Combes is senior medical advisor at the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) and for the American Hospital Association (AHA). Both Captain Phillips and Dr. Combes are serving one-year terms of office, which run from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002. Captain Phillips and Dr. Combes will be responsible for guiding the Council in developing initiatives to determine the appropriateness of using medication error rates between and among health care institutions, and to open a dialog on emerging models and approaches for medication errors and practitioner accountability. The Council also will consider revisions to the Medication Errors Taxonomy during this term. In addition to his FDA position, Captain Phillips is a practicing pharmacist and a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. His pharmacy career has included practice in large urban hospital settings and ambulatory care settings, as well as in isolated stations within the Indian Health Service. Captain Phillips joined the FDA in 1988 and served as Director of the Division of Labeling and Program Support in the Office of Generic Drugs until 1998. He was chair of the Medication Errors Committee in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research from 1992 to 1995. Dr. Combes, in his positions within HAP and AHA, has focused on quality and leadership issues in patient safety, end-of-life care, and clinical variation. Dr. Combes has expertise in quality management, strategic planning, physician network development, and medical management. Dr. Combes has served as director of medical education at a New York State community hospital with responsibility for continued medical education and graduate medical education for a family practice intern and residency program. He also held the position of chief medical officer for two large Florida health care systems, where he was responsible for medical management, physician group practice development, quality improvement, and medical staff relations. For additional information about the Council, its activities or membership, contact Council chairperson Phillips at (301/827-3246) or Council secretary Diane Cousins (301/816-8215). # # # # The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (Council) was founded in 1995 to promote the reporting, understanding and prevention of medication errors. The Council comprises health-related organizations, societies and agencies, including medicine, pharmacy and nursing groups, consumer groups, standards-setting and federal regulatory bodies, and manufacturers. The Council's goals are to examine and evaluate the causes of medication errors; increase awareness of medication errors and methods of prevention throughout the health care system; recommend strategies relative to system modifications, practice standards and guidelines; stimulate development and use of medication error reporting and evaluation systems; and stimulate reporting to a national system for review, analysis and development of recommendations to reduce and prevent medication errors. 2001-04 NCC MERP © 1998–2008 National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention. All Rights Reserved. *Permission is hereby granted to reproduce information contained herein provided that such reproduction shall not modify the text and shall include the copyright notice appearing on the pages from which it was copied.