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John R. Combes, M.D., Elected Council Chair; Linda Hanold, MHSA, Elected Council Vice Chair July 10, 2002 Rockville, Maryland—The new chair and vice chair for July 1, 2002–June 30, 2003 were announced at the June 11–12, 2002 meeting of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (Council). John R. Combes, M.D., senior medical advisor at The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) has been elected chair of the Council, and Linda Hanold, research director at the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has been elected vice chair. Dr. Combes served as Council vice chair for 2001–2002. Dr. Combes and Ms. Hanold will guide the Council's work during the next year in a variety of medication error–related initiatives, including revision of the medication error taxonomy and training programs for unlicensed pharmacy personnel. In his positions within HAP and AHA, Dr. Combes has focused on quality and leadership issues in patient safety, end-of-life care, and clinical variation. He has expertise in quality management, medical ethics, and medical management. Dr. Combes has served as director of a New York State community hospital with responsibility 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. He is a native of New York, graduated from Manhattan College, and received his medical degree from Cornell University. He received his post-graduate training from Boston City Hospital. He currently serves on committees for several national groups focusing on patient safety, end-of-life care, and ethics. Ms. Hanold has been involved with performance measurement issues, in part focusing on medication use during her entire 14-year tenure at JCAHO. Other safety-related issues that JCAHO currently addresses includes the establishment of National Patient Safety Goals, consumer education programs, development of a comprehensive patient safety taxonomy, a series of public policy forums to address patient safety, and an upcoming conference on developing a business case for patient safety. Prior to joining JCAHO, Ms. Hanold was director of the pharmacy technician-training program at the University of Illinois Hospital. # # # # 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.