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Council Adds Department of Defense, American Organization of Nurse Executives as Members; VA and ASHRM Renewed April 9, 2002 Rockville, Maryland—The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) has unanimously accepted the Department of Defense (DoD) and the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) as regular members for two-year terms with full voting privileges. Representatives from the DoD TRICARE Program who will serve on the Council are delegate COL. William G. Davies, U.S. Army, and alternate delegate LCDR David Hardy, Medical Service Corps, U.S. Navy. Representatives from AONE are delegate Karen Drenkard, RN, MSN, chief nurse executive, Inova Health System, and alternate delegate Veronika L. Oven, AONE director, education an research. The American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) and the Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) also have had their regular memberships extended two years. Ellen Quinn, assistant director, risk management for the Texas Children's Hospital is the ASHRM delegate and Jeff Ramirez, Pharm.D., chief, management/clinical information pharmacy benefits, and John E. Ogden, chief consultant, pharmacy benefits management, are the delegate and alternate delegate respectively for the VA. Each organization will occupy one full voting seat on the Council for a two-year period. DoD and the VA join the Council in the category of "Government Agencies." AONE joins the Council in the "Nursing" category, and ASHRM joins the Council in the category of "Risk Management/Quality Assurance." The DoD TRICARE Program, a comprehensive military healthcare program, provides first-priority treatment for current and former military personnel and their families at all military treatment facilities around the world. TRICARE focuses on preventive care, health, and readiness. DoD launched a patient safety tool, the Pharmacy Data Transaction Service (PDTS), in Sept. 2000. The first of its kind in the military, the PDTS maintains a patient medication record for all DoD beneficiaries worldwide. Founded in 1967, the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association, is a national organization of nearly 4,000 nurses who design, facilitate, and manage care. The organization provides leadership, professional development, advocacy, and research in order to advance nursing practice and patient care, promote nursing leadership excellence, and shape healthcare public policy. The VA was established in 1930 to consolidate and coordinate government activities affecting war veterans. Its system has grown to be the largest integrated health care systems in the United States with 173 hospitals and over 1,000 sites of health care delivery. ASHRM is the professional society for healthcare risk management and those responsible for the process of making and carrying out decisions that will promote quality care, maintain a safe environment, and preserve human and financial resources in healthcare organizations. 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. 2002-01 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.