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Webinar:

The ASHP Safety Summit: Best Practices and Implications for Healthcare Providers

In July 2008, the American Society of Health-System convened the IV Safety Summit to explore the causes of serious intravenous medication errors and propose solutions to prevent further harm and death. What were the conclusions of a diverse multidisciplinary group of healthcare providers and safety experts regarding best practices for intravenous medication use safety? How can organizations prevent further harm or death from intravenous medication errors?

Data on the frequency and severity of reported intravenous medication errors, barriers to adoption of best practices, and an ambitious action agenda intended to bring about real sustainable changes are reviewed, with discussion of implications for practice.

This presentation is about an hour long.

Speaker

Bona E. Benjamin, B.S.Pharm
Director, Medication-Use Quality Improvement
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists

Ms. Benjamin received a B.S. in Biology in 1970 and B.S. in Pharmacy in 1972 at the University of Louisiana, Monroe. In 2003, she completed an Executive Fellowship in Patient Safety at Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia. She has practiced hospital pharmacy for over 25 years, focusing on sterile product preparation, education and training, accreditation and regulatory compliance, performance improvement, and management.

From 1997 to 2007, she was the Quality Officer for the Pharmacy Department at the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center at the National Institutes of Health, where she coordinated medication-related performance improvement, Joint Commission readiness, and policy development activities for the hospital-wide quality team as well as the NIH Pharmacy Department. While at NIH, she participated in the Medication-Use Safety Strategy Project conducted by ASHP and served as an instructor for a medication safety class for pharmacy and nursing students at the University of Maryland.

In 2007, she joined the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists as the Director of Medication-Use Quality Improvement. In that role she serves as staff liaison and member advocate with such groups as the FDA, AHRQ, USP, IHI, NPSF, NQF, IOM, CMS, and others. She represents ASHP on the National Coordinating Council on Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, the Joint Commission Professional and Technical Advisory Committee for Hospitals, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance, and the National Consumers League SOS Rx initiative. She assists with review, testimony, and ASHP official written commentary on medication-related regulatory and accreditation initiatives.

Learning Objectives and Major Content Areas

1. Describe the goals of ASHP's IV Safety Summit.
2. List the IV medications that most commonly cause harm according to data in one proprietary error reporting system.
3. Identify at least one major theme common to the safety practices recommended by Summit attendees.