2/18/2008 – SAN BRUNO, CALIFORNIA, February 19, 2008 – First DataBank, a leading provider of drug information databases, today announced the launch of a new brand awareness campaign to focus public and industry attention on the prevention of medication errors. The campaign will be unveiled at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2008 Annual Conference & Exhibition to be held February 24-28, in Orlando, Florida.
First DataBank’s campaign theme, “A World Free of Medication Errors,” is intended to focus industry and public attention on how the intended use of the company’s medication information at the point of care may play a key role in the prevention of medication errors. The company is a pioneer in the development of drug information databases used throughout healthcare in clinical decision support. Experts estimate that as many as 98,000 people die each year from medical errors that occur in hospitals and a significant number of those deaths are due to medication-related errors.
A key component of the public awareness effort is a tie-in to two non profit organizations that share First DataBank’s mission of medication error prevention. At the HIMSS 2008 Annual Conference, attendees visiting the First DataBank booth will receive a custom-designed wristband and a brochure describing the “A World Free of Medication Errors” campaign mission. Throughout every public event in which First DataBank participates in 2008, the company will set aside five dollars toward each wristband distributed that will be shared equally by two non-profit organizations. The two organizations chosen by First DataBank to share in the funds raised throughout the campaign year are: FLAAME: Families Launching Action Against Medication Errors and the Josie King Foundation.
“The employees at First DataBank are passionately committed to improving patient safety and healthcare quality in everything we do,” said Don Nielsen, M.D., President, First DataBank. “The knowledge that our drug information plays a significant role in the prevention of harmful medication errors was our inspiration for this campaign and our hope is that it motivates others to join with us,” he continued.
“On behalf of the Josie King Foundation, we are honored to have been selected to be part of First DataBank’s campaign to raise public and industry awareness of medication errors,” said Sorrel King, co-founder of the Josie King Foundation named to honor of her young daughter, Josie, who died from a medical error. “I speak to hundreds of clinicians working in hospitals around this country on this subject every year since Josie’s death and there is always more information to share, and more teaching to be done. The donation from First DataBank’s campaign will support these ongoing educational efforts,” she stated.
About FLAAME: Families Launching Action Against Medication Errors
Flaame was founded in 2007 to heighten public and health care industry awareness of errors made on both sides of the prescription counter. Co-founded by Cathy Horton, whose career, family life and health were thrown into turmoil following a medication error. Flaame’s mission is to eliminate instances of prescription errors, medication use errors and negative drug interactions through awareness programs, education, lobbying and web-based resources. For more information about Flaame visit http://www.flaame.org.
About The Josie King Foundation
The Josie King Foundation was founded in 2001 by Sorrel and Tony King, after their young daughter, Josie, died of medical errors at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. The Josie King Foundation’s mission is to prevent others from dying or being harmed by medical errors. By uniting healthcare providers and consumers, and funding innovative safety programs, the foundation’s hope is to create a culture of patient safety, together. For more information about the Josie King Foundation visit https://www.josieking.org.
About First DataBank
First DataBank, a subsidiary of Hearst Corporation, drives patient safety and healthcare quality by providing drug databases that are used within information systems that touch every aspect of healthcare. For 30 years, we have partnered with system developers to integrate and optimize our drug information to improve user workflow and enhance clinical decision making by those entrusted with treating patients at the point-of-need. For more information about First DataBank, call 800-633-3453 or visit www.firstdatabank.com.
For more information about this press release, please contact Denise Apcar at 650-872-4514 or via email at denise_apcar@firstdatabank.com.